Presentation is everything! Making gifts in a jar are a wonderful, personal yet inexpensive way to show someone you care. There really is no end to the ideas a person can come up with, let your creativity flow and think also about who the gift is for to really make it especially for them. Jar gifts are a wonderful, creative yet inexpensive ways to give gifts to family, friends and teachers and other loved ones.
Are you helping a child to make the gift? If the gift is from a child for a grandparent, parent or teacher, decoupage the child's photo on the outside of the jar, then trim the edges of the photo with lace or some other finishing type of ribbon. The child could even paint a little something on the opposite side of the jar or his or her little handprint with paint.
One common way to decorate a jar is take some fabric and cut a circle, square or heart shape out of the fabric that is 6 - 8 inches across. You can use pinking shears or other decorative type scissors to edge the fabric. Lace can also be sewn as a trim to the fabric. Place the inner round section of the jar's lid on the jar and center the fabric on that. Screw the other section of the lid in place to hold the fabric. Fluff out the fabric where it comes out from under the lid.
You can use already decorated type jars, or standard canning jars. The most common sizes are the pint and quart sized jars, but baby jars are also great for smaller portion drink or spice type mix gifts.
Hang tags can be made either by hand, computer graphics or a label glued to the jar itself, but these can be customized to a central theme if desired. However you choose to do this, they will need the recipe's final instructions. Try your hand at calligraphy!
There are many wonderful recipes that can be made specifically designed for jars. These include soup mixes, spice mixes, cookie and other baked goods recipes, coffee and creamer recipes and so many more. These can be quite easy to make ahead of time, so you always have a gift you can grab whenever you need one, especially great for those last minute gift needs, or for the person who seems to have everything and is difficult to buy for.
You can paint the jar before filling it. Buy paint that is specially designed for glass and follow the specific directions. Can't paint? Try finding a card or picture or something you'd like to put on the jar, and get it on paper. Place the paper inside the jar, and then simply let your painting basically be tracing the design and adding your own personal touches to it. Again, this can really be used for a theme and the jar itself will remain a keepsake long after the recipe has been used.
Layer the ingredients for a beautiful effect. Put at the bottom layers the finest ingredients, like flour but be sure to mix in the baking sodas, salt, etc that's called for in the recipes. You can use a funnel to help keep things orderly. If the flour dusts the rest of the jar, let it settle a while then gently wipe the jar with a paper towel before adding the rest of the layers. Brown sugar can be packed down to save a bit of space.
You can accessorize your jar gifts by either gluing dried flowers, pinecones, beads, shells or whatever to the top of the jars as well. Or tie small items with ribbon or raffia to the jars. Common items that work well are measuring spoons, tiny whisks, cookie cutter, ornaments, cinnamon bark, vanilla beans or any other small whimsical item you may find.
There are many beautiful ribbons out there and different styles and sizes of bows can be made and simply glued on to the lid. Lace can also be hot glued around the rim of the jar.
For a holiday themed jar try a luscious hot cocoa mix or other goodie recipe, gluing some wrapping paper decor around various sides of the jar, or you can use some glitter paint for a snow type theme. For a Wild West theme, try perhaps a bean soup recipe, wrap your jar in a bandanna, or use the bandanna itself as tied around the lid. Perhaps you can find a cowboy boot or hat graphic to decoupage on the jar itself, or paint one on.
Get creative in how you want to present your jar gift. This might mean a gift basket filled with several jar gifts, or simply one with other components making up the whole gift basket
What about the tea lover you know? Try some small baby jars filled with different flavored teas, cocoas and coffee mixes and put in a basket with a coffee mug and muffin or scone. Paint the jar lids coordinating colors to match the mug. Perhaps adding some gourmet tea bags and cinnamon sticks would be a nice touch as well. Let your creativity guide your senses.
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