This year I am being super organised when it comes to Christmas. I have already bought nearly everyone’s presents and most have even been wrapped up in festive paper and delivered to their recipients already. As well as being uncharacteristically organised this year, I also decided to hand make some of my gifts. I love a gift that has been lovingly made by someone, a gift someone has put real thought and effort into and not been plucked off a shelf in a stressful Christmas shopping frenzy. I have recently fallen in love with knitting so, of course, I decided to knit a few gifts but, after spending lots of time on Pinterest, I decided to get involved in all this mason jar business. I have 3 lovely nieces (ages 9 – 11) and as Oli and I are always unsure what to buy them, I decided to create a mason jar of Christmas treats for them. This is a cheap and cheerful gift that also looks great and will (hopefully) be happily received.
So, if you fancy making a Christmas treat mason jar perfect for a little lady in your family, here is what you will need…
* A jar – I got mine from Ikea. They are quite big and have a strong clip for the lid. At only £2.50, these jars are perfect.
* Accessories – To fill these jars I had to send my mind back to my childhood and try and remember what things an 11 year old loves. I had a browse around Claire’s Accessories and before I knew it I had filled my basket with nail varnish, hair accessories and make up (the kiddies stuff, I don’t think my sister would appreciate me giving her pre teen a jar full of MAC foundation!) I also popped in to Primark and grabbed a pack of about 20 hair bobble for £1. As I was buying for 3, I found it worked out cheaper to buy multi packs of hair accessories and split them between the 3 jars.
* Sweet treats – Who doesn’t love chocolate? I bought a big bag of chocolate coins and added a handful to each of the jars to add to the festive feel. I also bought some hot chocolate sachets and mini marshmallows and added them as well (Asda have an offer of 4 hot chocolate sachets for a £1, this made me very happy). Hot chocolate at Christmas time is a must, right? I also got a tin of Lollipops and Love hearts etc for £5 from Tesco and filled up the rest of the jars with these.
* Decoration – I decided not decorate the actual jar as I thought if the girls wanted to they could do this themselves. They are all quite creative and would probably enjoy painting/sticking things to the jars themselves. Also, by leaving the jars plain, the girls can now use them for keeping whatever they want in once they have emptied out all their Christmas treats (if I had decorated them in Christmas ribbon or varnish they may have been more inclined to bin them along with the wrapping paper). I went for a minimalistic look and just stuck a star ribbon to the lid and tied a cute little brown gift tag to each, simple yet effective.
What do you think of these Christmas treat mason jars, would you make something similar? I really hope the girls like them as much as I enjoyed putting them together for them. Do you like hand made gifts too?
These look so amazingly simple yet so incredible.. I think I am definitely going to give this a go! Thanks for sharing this lovely idea 🙂 #KCACOLS
These are such lovely ideas – so simple but so pretty and thoughtful! xx
Sam // Samantha Betteridge
These are fab! I love them! You may well have just inspired a few Christmas gifts this year! Right up my street, thank you xx
I love handmade gifts! (and where better to go than pinterest!) these are perfect but not too expensive alternatives for big family gift buying! love this idea! #twinkletuesday
I pretty much love anything in a mason jar haha. These are a lovely idea for gifts #twinklytuesday
I used to do these and put Santa labels on them and put them in their stockings, the kids loved them as they looked homemade from Lapland! I'm sure your girls will love yours too #TwinklyTuesday
So pretty and a lovely thought! Think we might do something similar for my brother and sister for Christmas! #abitofeverything
What a sweet, easy and effective idea. I love that they're flexible and could easily be personalized to fit everyone too. Thanks for linking up to #fartglitter x
I love this Wendy!! It is super easy to do and it looks great!! I like that it is done by you. This makes the present even more valuable!! I'm sure your nieces will love them!! Great job! Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS and also thank you for joining me every week!! I love having you here!! 🙂 xxx
Hi Wendy, I love this idea. It's actually given me the idea of giving my lot one of these each (full of goodies) instead of a Christmas morning stocking (we don't open the main presents until after dinner).
xx
They were so easy to make and really fun too. You should give it a go, you could fill the jars with literally anything 🙂 xx
Thanks 🙂 I thought it would be nice to give the girls something a little different this year xx
Glad you like them 🙂 xx
I love receiving handmade gifts, I've just never thought to make them myself before and these seemed like a good place to start. Pinterest is amazing!!xx
Haha me too!xx
Oh what a good idea using Santa labels! I might make one for Leo using that idea, thanks 🙂 xx
Thanks, yes you should do it. They are cheap and cheerful and can easily be personalised for each family member 🙂 xx
Aww thank you. Thanks for hosting #fartglitter xx
Thank you for your lovely comment Franca, I love linking up every week :). I hope the girls like them, even if they don't like the gifts inside they have still got a cool jar to do something with haha xx
I could never wait to open presents until after dinner, your kids must be very patient!xx
I love this idea and would definitely do it! I love hand made presents and think your nieces will too 🙂 #KCACOLS
What a thoughtful gift! I LOVE IT! I am going to try this for this Christmas! It's wonderful that you can individualise each jar too! Thank you for linking up with #abitofeverything
What a great idea, my nieces would love this! Thanks for linking up with #KCACOLS Becky x
What a lovely idea and I love it even more that you can adapt the idea to suit any age. Such a lovely idea. I just can't stand the thought of going to Ikea :@ I might have to but loads of dou egberts coffee hehehehe. Thanks for linking up #TinselTuesdays.