Mason Jars are the jelly to a frugal person’s peanut butter. You can put anything in a mason jar decorated with ribbons and bows, and it becomes a beautiful and inexpensive gift. Here are a couple simple idea’s for your mason jar holiday gift giving!

Art Kit in a Jar

A fun gift for an adult artist or child, especially for those long car rides to grandma’s house for the holiday. Add crayons, markers or colored pencils, a small notepad, a pencil and pencil sharpener, stickers, or even a few small envelopes to decorate. You may even consider adding a couple of glitter pens or a small ink pad and stamps. Gift it with an age appropriate coloring book and watch for the smiles!

Carmel Apples

Fill a small pint mason jar with a light dipping carmel and gift with a couple of red and green apples tied with a bow.

Cookie Jar

Instead of presenting your holiday treats on a plate gift them in a wide-mouth mason jar tied with a big bow. It keeps the cookies fresh and looks great all at the same time.

Cinnamon honey butter

Combine 1 cup of honey, 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of cinnamon into a bowl. Whisk until smooth with an electric blender. Pipe the mixture into small quarter pint mason jars (4 ounces) using a pastry bag or ziplock bag with a corner cut off. Decorate the jars with evergreen and twine and you’re done! Be sure to keep it refrigerated.

Hot Cocoa Snowman

Using a pint mason jar (16 ounces) fill your jar half way up with hot cocoa mix and then fill it the rest of the way to the top with mini marshmallows. Tie a piece fabric around the center of the jar, where the hot chocolate and marshmallows meet, like a scarf. Next, simply draw the snowman’s face above the scarf and glue some buttons on the bottom of the jar below the scarf. You can even add a cute little top hat to the top of the lid to complete your cute little snowman!

Soup in a Jar

Layer any type of colorful dried beans and rice in a jar like split peas, black beans, white beans, yellow lentils, or even dried vegetables like carrots or corn. Send with directions to soak the contents over night and then add them to a crock pot with your favorite diced chicken or ham. A great idea for cold winter nights.

Sewing Kit

Add a pair of scissors, small spools of black, white, and tan thread, a handful of safty pins, some stitching needles, a measuring tape, instant-stitch gell, etc to a jar. You can craft a small pin cushion on the lid with heavy fabric and cotton, just stretch the fabric over the cotton on top of the lid and secure with the ring. This idea works great for first-aid kits too!

Spruce up a gift card

Planning on giving gift cards this year? Make it more fun by placing the card in a jar full of candy or other small gifts. They’ll get to enjoy the treat now, and a great shopping trip later!

Body Scrub

Homemade body scrubs or bath salts make great gifts and are much cheaper than their store bought counterparts. Try mixing 2 cups of sugar, 3 tbsp. lemon zest, 1/2 cup coconut oil, and 10 drops of lemon oil together for a great smelling and refreshing scrub.

Perfect Pet Gifts

Fill a jar with a variety of dog or cat treats as a gift for your favorite furry friends this Christmas.

Cupcakes in a jar

Layer your favorite sponge cake, fruit and whipped cream frosting in a pint jar and sprinkle a little colored sugar on top then add the lid and a bow. It’s best to assemble this one right before gifting it.

Breakfast in a Jar

Fill a pint jar half full of instand oatmeal add a few spoonfuls of brown sugar, and add freeze dried fruit like strawberries or peaches on top. Send with instructions to fill the jar with milk or water and allow to stand in the fridge overnight. It can be popped in the microwave the next morning for a warm healthy breakfast.

For more mason jar gift ideas and recipies visit: www.masonjarcraftslove.com or www.putitinajar.com.