Another cute idea would be to have a mason jar party (disgustingly hipster, but still cute) where you supply the ingredients and people make their own mason jar gifts.
1) Hot chocolate:
This is one of the easier of the jars. You use the ingredients to make layers inside the jar that you can see on the outside. Depending on what kind of hot chocolate you want to do your jars will have between 2 and 5 layers.
What you will need (note: the only thing that is required is the hot chocolate otherwise it is up to you!):
16 oz. mason jars with lids
Hot chocolate mix (I used Starbucks hot chocolate, it's better than SwissMiss, but you can still buy it in large canisters)
Marshmallows
Peppermint
Nip of Bailys
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sprinkles
I used hot chocolate powder, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and marshmallows. I was making them for someone else, but if I was doing them myself I would have either added peppermint or (depending on the crowd) nips of Bailys.
What you do:
Spoon in the appropriate amount of powder (for me it was about half the jar and it would serve 4 people).
Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips over the powder (use just enough to make a small layer you don't want to make it too chocolaty).
Fill the remainder of the jar with marshmallows.
Tie bakers twine or ribbon around the top of the jar and add a tag with instructions (make sure that you add that they can use different kinds of milk).
2) Mulling spices:
The easiest one in my opinion, but definitely more holiday oriented.
What you will need:
16 oz. mason jars
Oranges (1/2 an orange per jar)
Apples (1/2 an apple per jar)
Cinnamon sticks (4-5 per jar)
Cloves (1-2 TBSP per jar)
Water
What you do:
Cut orange in half then cut into round slices.
Cut apple in half then cut into 1/2 inch slivers.
Place in jar mixing up the apples and oranges.
Put the cinnamon sticks and cloves into the jar.
Fill with water and make sure that the jar is sealed tight.
Tie bakers twine or ribbon around the top of the jar and add a tag with instructions (simmer on low heat throughout the day to make your house smell fantastic).
3) Pamper yourself:
Again, this one is VERY easy, but it requires ordering a few extra things. That being said, it is a cute way to package a spa kit. This is the more expensive option of all of the jars, but it is definitely worth it, and depending on how many of these jars you are making, but if you are making 5 jars you can do it for about $10 including the jar.
What you will need:
Tea candles (you can get a bag of 50 for about 8 bucks from amazon)
Single use face masks (here is a pack of 10 for 7 dollars)
Cooling eye mask (pack of 3 for 10 dollars)
Homemade lavender bubble bath (unscented shampoo, salt, water, and lavender essential oil)
Travel bottles for the bubble bath (pack of 6 for 7 dollars)
Quart sized mason jars with lids
What you do:
Make lavender bubble bath using this recipe. If you are making multiple jars you should consider doubling or tripling the recipe depending on the size of the shampoo bottle that you got.
Pour them into the travel sized bottles.
Put two face masks into the jar, put an eye mask in the jar, slide in 3-4 tea candles, and the travel bottle of bubble bath.
Close the lid, and tie a tag onto the jar using bakers twine or ribbon. On the tag write the contents of the jar...make sure you add the homemade lavender bubble bath because some people have allergies.
4) Homemade caramel popcorn:
Alright, so for this one you need a slightly larger work space, and it is a bit more complicated than any of the other ones because it requires more prep work. It is a good pay off though, the popcorn is AMAZING.
What you will need (to fill 4-5 jars):
1 cup Popcorn- if you don't have an air popper you can make it the old fashioned way in a large pot with oil
1 stick salted Butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup light brown sugar
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
Wax paper
Aluminum foil
Quart jars
What you do:
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
Line cookie trays with aluminum foil and grease them.
While you are at it, lay wax paper down on a large surface.
Pop popcorn- if you have an air popper you might want to do 1/2 cup at a time, if you are doing it in a LARGE pot, line bottom of the LARGE pot with olive oil and pour 1/2 a cup of popcorn into the bottom of the LARGE pot (if you only have a small pot use 1/4 cup of popcorn at a time until you have popped a full cup of kernels)
After you have popped the popcorn (don't do this at the same time as popping the popcorn because the caramel needs to be watched) in a small pot melt 1 stick of salted butter on LOW heat.
When butter is completely melted add 1/4 cup light corn syrup and 1 cup light brown sugar and stir to mix completely. When it is completely mixed in let the mixture simmer on low heat untouched for 5 minutes.
When the 5 minutes are up stir for 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for another 5 minutes.
When the 5 minutes are up, remove from heat and add 1.5 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp vanilla and stir to mix completely.
Pour over popcorn gradually while stirring to mix completely.
Pour onto cookie trays spreading evenly over them.
Put in oven for 15 minutes. Every 5 minutes remove and stir popcorn.
When 15 minutes is up, pour over wax paper and let cool to room temperature.
Break into small pieces and pour into quart jars.
Tie on tag with ribbon or bakers twine or just use the labels I linked to at the bottom of the page.
The next few jar suggestions come from this website. You can either give 1 as a gift or you can make a bunch of these spa recipes and give them as a larger present.
5) Homemade salt scrub:
What you will need:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
3/4 cup salt (make sure that it has very large salt crystals)
Essential oil of your choice (I used lavender)
16 oz. mason jar
What you do:
Mix 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/3 cup honey completely
Add 3/4 cup salt slowly stirring it into the honey olive oil mixture.
It should be thick, but not hard. There might be a little extra of the oil mixture on the top.
Add about 15-30 drops of essential oil depending on how strong you want it to smell.
Close the mason jar.
6) Homemade bubble bath:
I already talked a little about this one, but you can have a little fun with it using different essential oils, you can use a little food coloring (VERY little...you don't want to dye someones skin accidentally).
What you will need:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup unscented shampoo
1 tsp salt
Essential oil of your choice
Food coloring (optional)
What you do:
Add 1/2 water and 1/3 unscented shampoo to jar.
Add 1 tsp salt and stir until mixture gets thick.
Add 15-30 drops of essential oil.
Add 5-10 drops of food coloring (optional).
7) Homemade body butter:
What you will need:
1 1/2 cups coconut oil
2 TBSP vitamin E oil
Essential oil
Electric mixer
What you do:
Put 1.5 cups coconut oil and 2 TBSP vitamin E oil into a bowl.
Use an electric mixer to mix the two together for several minutes. The mixture should be creamy you should be able to make peaks very easily. You might have to take breaks to scrape the mixture down the side of the bowl.
Add essential oil and mix again.
Scoop into mason jar and label.
The next few are super easy because it is just mixing things into epsom salts. There are tons of sites that offer recipes for these such as: this one, this one, and this one.
8) Lavender bath salts:
What you need:
Epsom salt (if you are making a few jars you should get one of the big bags)
Essential oil
2-3 TBSP Fresh lavender (optional you can usually get lavender at places like whole foods or a local co-op)
What you do:
Fill jar halfway with Epsom salt.
Add 1-2 TBSP lavender and 15 drops lavender oil.
Seal lid and shake to mix completely.
Fill the rest of the jar with Epsom salt.
Add 1 TBSP lavender and another 15 drops of oil.
Seal jar and shake to mix completely.
Label with tag or jar topper.
9) Lemon Rosemary bath salts:
What you need:
Epsom salt
2-3 TBSP lemon zest
8 drops lemon essential oil
2-3 TBSP fresh chopped rosemary
What you do:
Fill jar halfway with Epsom salt.
Add 1-2 TBSP lemon zest, 1-2 TBSP chopped rosemary and 4 drops lemon oil.
Seal lid and shake to mix completely.
Fill the rest of the jar with Epsom salt.
Add 1 TBSP lemon zest, 1 TBSP chopped rosemary and another 4 drops of oil.
Seal jar and shake to mix completely.
Label with tag or jar topper.
These next few I have not tried out yet, but I definitely plan to...
10) Snowflake mix
What you need:
3
cups
bite-size rice square cereal
3
cups
bite-size corn square cereal
1
cup
small pretzels
1
cup
honey-roasted peanuts
2
12
ounce package
white chocolate chips
1
12 -
ounce package Andes chocolate pieces (or other mint chocolate chips)
Wax paper
What you do:
Combine cereals, pretzels, and peanuts.
Melt white chocolate chips and pour over cereal mixture.
Stir completely before spreading across wax paper to evenly.
Sprinkle with mint chocolate chips.
Pour into jars and label.
11) S'mores in a jar
What you need:
WIDE MOUTHED mason jars (important so that everything will fit without breaking)
Graham crackers
Chocolate bars
Marshmallows
Clear baggies for loose ingredients
Quart sized jars
What you do:
Put marshmallows and graham crackers into separate bags.
Put candy bars, marshmallow bag, and graham cracker bag into the jar.
Write instructions and label on tag.
I'm not as big of a fan of this one because they need to buy extra ingredients, but also because the mix came from a box which is unfortunate, but there are a bunch more recipes that don't use a mix.
What you need:
Quart sized jars
Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
Red and green M&Ms
What you do:
Layer ingredients (cake mix first, M&Ms second).
Write label with instructions (pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, beat together two eggs and 1/2 cup vegetable oil, add entire jar contents, mix completely, make into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart, bake for 6-8 minutes).
There are plenty more ideas for mason jar gifts both on Pinterest or if you just google. There are a few ideas here, here, here, and here.
If you aren't looking to make all of your gifts, my post yesterday covered lots of awesome websites to shop on with some great deals. Find those here.
