Morning Beautifuls,
Its December now! I’m socially allowed to get exited for Christmas! Woohoo!!!
Which obviously means Christmas related blogs! Get ready for an onslaught of them up until Christmas – hopefully every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday right up until Christmas Eve!!
I have to start off with this post – it only seems fitting! This one has to be one of my favourite blogs ever as I love the idea of gift in jars! They have to be the most amazing idea and can become such creative outlets. I’m so excited to share with you five of my favourite Jar Gifts that I have made!
Now, most of these will work with any sized jars – including finished jam jars! I think glass ones look better than plastic ones and love the ones with slight detail on them or the complete opposite – very plain ones that I can decorate. Just, with both of the baking ones, you may need to tweak the ratios of the ingredients depending on the sizes of the containers. I would recommend a 1 litre container or a half a litre container, but any size works – there just may be a bit of maths included!
But lets get one with the awesome ideas!!! Woohoo!!
(I don’t know where to start!)
The first one I want to start with is Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar. I tweaked this from a few different recipes, so fingers crossed it’ll work out. I’m quietly confident though – I mean you can’t go wrong with chocolate, right? For this one, I had to half the ingredients for it to fit into the jar I picked. However, for the sake of this blog post, I’ll give you the 1L equivalent.
So, all you need to do is layer the ingredients in the following order:
- 1 3/4 cups plain flour mixed with 1tsp baking powder and 1tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- However much is necessary to fill your container of milk, dark and white chocolate.
I found funnel and spoon extremely helpful in getting all the ingredients in the jar, although if you’re a bit more skilled than I am, measuring jugs could work just as well.
In a tag, attach the following instructions:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Empty cookie mix into a large bowl.
Mix with 3/4 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 tsp of vanilla essence.
Shape into balls and cook for 11-13 minutes.
Enjoy with a Merry Christmas!
Woohoo!! First jar done! Lets move onto the next one!
The second baking related jar I made was a Apple Crumble Mix Jar. I think this is a gorgeous Christmas-themed present and it makes a perfect apple crumble! Ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!
What you need to layer:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup oats
- 2 tsp cinnamon and 2tsp nutmeg.
You can put both sugars and flour together to make thicker layers but I really loved it with the thinner layers. I also had a bit of room at the top of mine – I forgot to check what size the container was before starting – but plan to add some dried fruits – maybe cranberries or sultanas closer to giving it away. I think this would add a lovely christmassy feel and give the apple crumble a different, brighter flavour!
Anyway, for the label:
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Peel and slice 4-8 apples and lay them in a baking dish.
Pour contents of jar into a bowl. Mix 1/3 cup of butter and mix until crumbly.
Sprinkle over top of apples and cook for 30mins.
Enjoy warm with ice cream or cream and a Happy Christmas!
Moving on to other types of jars! The third idea is still baking related but doesn’t include the use of any ingredients (or anything that can make a absolute mess!). All you need for this one is some baking supplies and a cute tin and you are good to go!
What I put in mine are just some suggestions as there are limitless things you could place in this depending on the size and shape of your jar and who you were given it to. It took me a while to figure out this jars contents but in the end I decided with:
- A variety of Christmas Cupcake Cases
- Two Christmassy themed cookie cutters
- Glitter icing pens/tubes
As a stocking filler or a cute baking utilities present, this is a super great idea for that chef in your family who knows every recipe! Plus, if you look around in some of the stores, you would be surprised at the fun little kitchen gadgets you can find. Like Strawberry top removers!
The next jar is a manicure/pedicure set and is a super quick and cute idea with heaps of different things to place and display inside!
Keeping mine slightly simple but still Christmassy and cute, I decided to place into mine:
- Mint scented bath/feet scrub crystals
- Mint scented nail polish remover
- A pair of nail clippers
- A cute peach scented tea light (side note: peach scented things smell amazing!)
- Sparkly red nail polish (you could go for any colour but I thought red sparkles just screamed Christmas!)
After placing them inside, and finally finding another use of my ability to use chopsticks, I then covered the tin lid with a cute red and white polka dotted material cut into a circle. To this I attached a nail file in the shape of a star which I thought really added to the Christmas feel and still encompassing with the theme.
Final jar is more of a sentimental jar that I really wanted to make for one of my friends. She is really into quotes and when I had this idea I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it earlier – like six years ago. Funnily enough, this jar took the longest for me to make – searching the internet for suitable quotes, collaborating them, printing them out and putting them all in the jar took longer than I expected. After adding a bit of wasabi tape for decorating and using silver glitter letters to write ‘A Jar Of Quotes’, the jar was finally finished.
I am in love with the final result. I was hoping to add 200ish quotes into the jar but they didn’t all fit – which shows my lack of spatial awareness. You could do 52 quotes – one for each week of the year – or even 365 – one for each day of the year – or, like me, just add as many as your jar will hold. I have to admit, I am the most proud of this jar.
Anyway! I really hope you enjoyed this blog and it gave you some inspiration for Christmas gifts! I really think they are an incredible idea and love using them at Christmas time. Some can even work for birthdays!!
Keep smiling and get excited for Christmas!!
Kay Anne
Kay Anne 