How to Make homemade Christmas presents

Making beautiful Christmas Gift in a Jar presents is fun, inexpensive and very unique. The kids (of all ages) can really get involved with this and make Christmas giving even more personal and special.

Gift in a Jar mixes can be made using almost any type of basic recipe.  Depending on the type and quantity of the mix, you could even use colourful coffee mugs, wide-necked bottles, etc.

It goes without saying that whatever containers you choose to use, they must be spotlessly clean and dry before putting in the mix.  Soak the jars, mugs or bottles, together with their lids, in boiling water for 5 minutes. Let dry naturally on a rack – don’t use a drying cloth that might contain other germs!

To maintain hygiene I recommend that you fill and seal the jars with your mix first, before going on to decorate the outsides – that way sticky and paint or gluey fingers won’t get inside the jar.

Here are some ideas of how to decorate those jars, bottles and mugs.

• Tape a doily to the outside of a glass jar or mug. Spray the holes in the doily with artificial snow. Remove the doily carefully and let the snow dry completely before handling. Fill the mug with biscuits, nuts, sweets, etc.  Decorate as required.
• Using glass craft paint or even acrylic paints, paint a Christmas design of simple holly leaves and berries.
• Attach small bundles of cinnamon sticks or pine twigs around the bottle.  You could even attach other small gifts such as a wooden spoon, a cookie cutter, a mini garden trowel, or chocolate coated teaspoons, depending on the contents of the mix.
• Print out photos of your family in a collage and then glue this photo to the bottle or mug.
• Create an easy sand art star effect by layering your ingredients in the jar and then carefully sliding a wooden kebab stick down the sides, allowing the ingredients to make wavy star effects.
• Use clear glue or hot-glue to add artificial flowers, spices, holly and other ornaments to the lid of your jar or bottles.
• Decorate plain jars, mugs or bottles with Christmas stickers.
• Use glue to trace outlines of bells, Santa, holly or berries onto the outside of the jar. Sprinkle glitter over the glue.  Even better, get some glitter paints and let the kids draw their own patterns.
• You could layer the ingredients inside the jar much like Sand Art and then all that is required is a ribbon or lid decoration in the form of a doily tied with a ribbon to form a skirt. See some ideas below.
• Wrap the entire jar or mug in organza, net, tulle or appropriate fabric to suite the occasion. Decorate with raffia strings or ribbons.
• Attach the instructions label or tag with ribbons, raffia or coloured string.
• Wrap the entire mug or jar with colourful cellophane or crinkle cut paper.  Tie with raffia or ribbon.
• Decorate a small basket and put several different sized jars in the basket.
• Use mugs for single serving mixes such as a hot chocolate drink – “just add boiling water”. Use small food jars e.g. from babyfoods, for dip mixes.
• Make a raffia bow by cutting six inch pieces, tie the centre with another piece of raffia and fluff it out a bit and attach the jar with more raffia.
• Cover unsightly lids by using cold glue and a circle of pretty fabric to make a skirt for the lid. Tie down the skirt with ribbon when the bottle is closed.

Creating your own Sand Art by layering mixes in a jar

There is really no exact way to layer your mixes but try to make the layers contrast with one another by texture or colour. For example, place a layer of flour at the bottom, cocoa powder next next, nuts next, chocolate chips, marshmallows, oats, all on their own layers.  The variations will add appeal and you won’t have to decorate the outside of the jars all that much.

Here are some tips for creating your sand art jars.

• Start with the palest ingredients first: Mix the flour, baking soda, salt together first before pouring carefully into the jar.
• Press down each layer firmly. Use the back of a spoon or ladle to do this.
• Items such as flour, cocoa powders, powdered milk leave a light powdery residue on the sides of the jar. Remove by simply wiping the inside of the jar with a DRY paper-towel before adding your next layer.
• Add your next layers, for example, cocoa, oats, sugar, nuts, raisins, chocolate pieces, marshmallows – always ending the larger, more coarse ingredients.

Look at these ideas for filling your jars in the articles below….

Carla

I am a preschool and primary school teacher and mum to 3 children. I have been involved in education since 1997 and have trained in a variety of educational specialist areas. It is with this expertise that I write articles to help parents and educators provide quality learning experiences for the children in their care.