A fun, inexpensive gift to make at home is gift jars. These are pretty jars filled with layers of interesting foods that, when cooked, make yummy treats. All the crafter really needs to make one of these great gifts is an empty jar and some simple ingredients.
Picking a Jar
First, of course, a good jar is needed. This is as easy as soaking an empty food jar in hot water to get rid of the label and gluing a circle of pretty fabric to the lid to cover the logo. To keep the fabric from fraying, the crafter should smooth clear drying glue (Elmer’s works great) over the fabric and let it dry before the fabric is cut.
Choosing a Recipe for the Gift Jar
Next, the gift giver should pick a recipe from below, or come up with their own, and layer the ingredients. It helps to use a clean funnel to get the ingredients into the jar in nice neat layers without it sticking to the side of the jar. The colorful ingredients should be layered with the white ingredients for the best effect.
Cranberry Muffins
- 2 cups Bisquick
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. orange zest
- ½ cup chopped nuts
- 8oz. dried cranberries
Add a little note to the jar that lets the gift receiver know to add 1 egg and ¼ cup orange juice, mix and cook at 400 degrees for twenty-five minutes.
Blueberry Bread
- 5 cups flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. baking powder
- 3 cups dried blueberries
- 1 ½ cups chopped nuts
On the note attached list 4 eggs, 2 cups milk, 2 tsp. vanilla and ¾ cups margarine to be added. Don’t forget to mention to bake for one hour and twenty minutes.
Salad Vinegar
- Clear vinegar (Other vinegars are fine, but they aren't as pretty.)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Thin slices of red, green and yellow bell pepper
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 3 fresh banana peppers
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper corns
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Add all of the ingredients to a bottle that has a cork or air tight lid. Make sure you add enough vinegar so that the bottle is almost completely full.
Gumdrop Cookies
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 cups quick rolled oats
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup gumdrops, cut up in small pieces
On the note attached note to add 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, and to cook at 375 degrees for ten or twelve minutes.
Finishing Touch
A pretty label made on the computer and a festive ribbon makes the perfect finishing touch to a gift jar. A piece of paper with cooking instructions should be rolled up and tucked underneath the ribbon.
Finished gift jars can be given by themselves or added to gift baskets (please read How to Make Thrifty Gift Baskets for more information) as a food gift, depending on the needs of the giver.
Christmas or several birthdays in a row can blow holes in a budget and leave a person broke. With some planning and creative ideas, thought, smart gift givers can get through Christmas or any gift giving time with some money left in their pocket and everyone on the gift list accounted for when making these fun gift jars.
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