Christmas 2012 gifts (journal in a jar, cookie mix in a jar, inspiration jar)

Hey, all

So, here's a couple of my Christmas prezzies for some friends. The journal in a jar has been on my mind since I first saw it on my friend's tumblr, and I guess I just kind of ran with the whole gifts in a jar idea.

First off, here's the link to the journal in a jar inspiration: http://keepersministry.com/gift-giving-101-project-4-memory-jar-or-scrapbook-in-a-jar

Here's the prezzie I made:

So, I took the idea of a journal jar and ran with it, adding some extra little things she might want to use into it and I used a large jar so she can add put a lot of extra stuff into it throughout the year. The ornament (decoration?) and oversized ribbon is reused from Christmas presents to our family (I like to grab ribbons from presents and add them to my stash and they tend to turn up everywhere).

Here's a closer look at the journal tags I made:

I made 52 journal tags so she'd have a tag per week for the whole year. I traced a cardboard tag (which I got attached to a pair of pants we bought) onto various bits of paper and cardboard I had in my stash and cut them out, punched holes and added hole reinforcement stickers to them.

The next is a Blues-Be-Gone inspiration jar:

I got the idea from here: http://blog.ams-designstudio.com/2012/01/handmade-blues-be-gone-inspiration-jar.html

I completely forgot to take pictures of the cards and everything before I tied it up. I cut up note cards that were a Christmas present to my dad which he had no use for (because the other half had his name on them) and wrote inspirational quotes on them. I made 25 in total and put them into little envelopes and put them in the jar. The shredded gold foil, ribbon, and decor are all reused.

Last is this chocolate chip cookie mix in a jar:

Here's the recipe I used: http://www.meals.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookie-mix-a-jar-32260
I decided to go with a cookie in a jar because I remember how my friend once made a cake from a mix one dinner we had at their house and I wanted to help her make cookies almost from scratch. Here’s the recipe I used. I decided to go with a bigger jar because I wanted them to use it as a cookie jar after, I just added foil and some chocolates on top so the contents wouldn't shift. I added more ribbon from stash and tags with the recipe and also with the contents of the mix so she could make some from scratch if she ever wanted to.

I put chalkboard labels on all of them (but you can't see them in the first two). I got a roll of chalkboard sticker from a sale last year (I think it was 70Php or ~$2) and stuck them in the jars. I did the first two with silver Sharpie, but the cookie jar, I did it in chalk so if they use it as a cookie jar, they can change the writing on it.

A little more info over at my blog