DIY Edible and Non-Edible Gifts in a Jar

Some of the most thoughtful gifts are the ones you make.  This can be for any age.  Taking the time to think about the person and make something for them means you took the time for them.  Christmas can get very costly.  You have friends, teachers, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, moms, dads, nieces and nephews...   The list can go on and on.

Here are some ideas to inspire you to make some fun gifts in a jar that anyone can do!!  All you need is some canning jars that you can purchase at most grocery stores.

EDIBLES:
A great gift to give your girlfriends or family members that you don't normally buy for is a nice treat.  Could be just a jar of their favorite candy or a baking mix like brownie or how about peppermint hot chocolate!

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NON EDIBLES:

You don't always have to have food in the jars to make a really nice gift.  Check these out!

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More ideas:

Scrapbooking Supplies

Kids Crayons & Markers

Seeds or Bulbs

Crockpot Fixings

Bakers (sprinkles, cupcake liners)

Candles (filled with votives or tea lights)

Teachers (gift card, school supplies)

Makeup and/or Polish

North Pole Stamped Santa Letters

Your kids will be convinced it's a REAL letter from Santa when they see its been postmarked at the North Pole - It i simple and it will keep the Santa tradition alive.

Just place a stamped letter written to your children  from Santa inside a bigger envelope then  mail it By December 10th to:

 

NORTH POLE HOLIDAY CANCELLATION
POSTMASTER
4141 POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

In a week or two you’ll get your Santa letter back with a North Pole postmark! 

Thanks to Ginger Snap Crafts for sharing the how to get a letter stamped from the North pole.

Colorful Candy Bar Cookies - 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

Taste of Home Test Kitchen.

No one will guess these sweet treats with the candy bar center start with store-bought dough. Roll them in colored sugar…or just dip the tops for even faster assembly. Instead of using miniature candy bars, slice regular size Snickers candy bars into 1-inch pieces for the centers. —This yummy sweet treat  recipe come to us from the Taste of Home Test Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tube refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 24 miniature Snickers candy bars
• Red and green colored sugar

Directions

• In a small bowl, beat cookie dough and flour until combined. Shape 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of dough around each candy bar. Roll in colored sugar.
• Place 2 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

Snowman On A Stick

You just might find yourself singing "Frosty The Snowman" as you create these simple and adorable Snowmen on a stick treats for your next Christmas or winter celebration.  A Little Tipsy gives the full how to instructions.  Click here to get them now.

Snowman Gift Tags From Bread Tags

Do you ever think - "How Cleaver?"  that is exactly what I thought when I saw these adorable Snowmen bread tags created by Crafts by Amanda. 

Don’t throw out those little plastic bread tag clips that come on packages of bagels, English muffins and sandwich buns. Instead, save them to make these cute little snowmen for securing your Christmas treat bags!  Click here to see how Amanda created her Snowman Tags.

Room by Room... Ho Ho Ho

By Leslie Pleasants

I love decorating for Christmas.  I look forward to it for so long.  My husband on the other hand dreads "that" day... the day that he has to bring down the 22 bins from our garage attic.  Poor thing.  :)  I just tell him "look at that great work out you just got!".

Every year I try to decorate just a little bit different.  Plus with all the new decorations I bought on clearance after Christmas from the previous year I have even more to explore with.   After opening all my bins this year I realized that I have a lot of the same themed items..  enough to put in each room.  So that is when I thought of a great way to decorate and to call each room by a different name!  Call me crazy I know... but if you don't have enough of a certain item or are tight on budget to buy Christmas decorations I highly suggest places like the Dollar Tree.  I just love that store and to lots they would never know that a lot of my decorations are from there.  It's amazing how you can get creative with some of their things.  A great website that has some super cute ideas using Dollar Store product is Dollar Store Crafts.  You must check them out!  :)

So going with my themed rooms this year I thought I could help you out with some different themes.  Sometimes it just takes someone else's idea for you to get that kick start that you need.  Or maybe you have those items and just didn't realize what you could do with them all.

THEMES:

BY COLOR;  red/green,  red/gold, red/silvers, etc...  Having one room with all of the same colors can sure make a room pretty.  Once you pick the colors it is amazing how going to the stores your eyes will draw right to those colors.

SNOWMAN;  Whats more cuter then snowman everywhere!  Kids love snowman and you can even leave snowman up after Christmas (depending on what they look like).   Use fake snow(the sprinkles or fabric) around the room for added decor.  Take white styrofoam balls to use as snow balls.  They even have tablecloths, placemats and fabric that you can purchase.  Now you have a Snowman room!

NUTCRACKERS;  What I love about nutcrackers is they come in all different sizes, kinds and colors but they all seem to come together.  I have been collecting them for many years now.  Even the Dollar Tree carries them.  :)  The big ones can get spendy but not if you get them on clearance after Christmas or wait till they have a really good sale.  All you really need is a good 2 footer to highlight the room then smaller ones all around the room.  Get rid of all your other decor and replace with nutcrackers.  What about a small tree with just nutcracker ornaments.  Fun!  :)

SNOWFLAKES;  Snowflakes can be one of the easiest to do besides doing a colored room.  You can make your own or I purchases TONS from the Dollar Tree.  They have all different kids.  I got big foam ones that I used suction cups and hung them from the windows.   So many decorations that you can purchase have snowflakes on them too.  I even have a table runner that I made from fabric and no sew tape that has snow flakes on it.  Everywhere has snowflake ornaments too.  You don't need to hang them on your tree... you can hang them from your lights, down your stairway, off your mantel, or even just lay them on your table(cut off the string).

SANTAS;  I have quite a few santa decorations but what really stands out is the santa hat decorations that I have.  I bought some santa seat back covers from the Dollar Tree.  You can even make your own throw pillow taking just a red frilly pillow and putting a thick black ribbon around it and making a belt.  How about a santa hat for the tree topper.  Turning the room into a red, white with a hint of black and now you have a Santa room!

CANDY CANES;  The given...  candy canes!  Fill different size vases with mini candy canes or starlight mints.  Decorate the room in red and white.  Use red and white ribbon around railings to look like candy canes.  They even have fake candy cane looking poinsettias at some of the craft stores (Joanns and Michaels).  Make topiaries with styrofoam cones and hot glueing mini candy canes on them.

I know I could be an ad for the Dollar Tree but its amazing what you can find there.  But there also many other stores over the years where I have found a lot of my cherished pieces.  Just putting them together just the right way can create a new look like its just out of a magazine.  :)

The Christmas Story Advent -Teaching your Children the real meaning

The countdown has begin in our house as we count the days until Christmas with our advent calendars - Yes, we have multiple ones in our home from Lego to chocolate and this year I have added one more countdown experience. A daily Scripture verse telling the story of Jesus’ birth – from the angel telling Mary that she would be Jesus’ mom, to the three wise men’s journey. My goal is to remind my children the real reason for the season every day this month!

You can also share this fun advent countdown with you children with the FREE printable advent cards from Glittermagic. They also included some cute ideas on the 2nd page of what to do with the cards in case you don’t have an Advent Calendar. Click here to down load your cards now.

Hand Print Keepsakes To Create

Creating art as keepsakes is fun for your kids and sentimental for us moms - With Thanksgiving around the corner why not add a little craft time to your celebration and have the kids or each family member create a hand print keepsake that you can frame and display for years to come.


Here are a few ideas we discovered to inspire some creativity.




Double Turkey Fun

Create these adorable double Turkey hands with a little pain and creativity.

Finger Painting Fall Tree

Create a fall hand print tree to frame and display during the fall months. you could even have more then one child place their hand print on the tree.  For complete how to instructions click here and head over to A Little Tipsy

Native American Indians

Create these adorable Native American Indian hand prints with the simple steps from Handprint and Footprint Art.  Click here to go there now.

12 Days Of Thankfulness

Today begins Day one of the 12 day countdown to Thanksgiving ( Day 12 being Thanksgiving).

I have hung our Thanksgiving countdown calendar and am filling it with daily questions and/or activities to once again teach my kids about thankfulness and how blessed our family is.

Join the Novotny family and begin today asking your family members what they are thankful for - Write them down daily and place them in a Gratitude jar, place on a Thankful Tree or create a Thankful chain.  On Thanksgiving you can go around the table and read off all the notes or paper chain slips written about what you are thankful for.

Another idea is to choose a daily activity to teach your kids Thankfulness - below is a list of ideas  you can also click here to read more about Thankful activities here at 24/7 MOMS


Leave a comment and tell us about your Thankful activities in your home


COUNTDOWN WITH THANKFUL  ACTIVITIES 


We are Thankful for our Grandparents

Call or send them an email saying how much you are thankful for them.


We are Thankful For our Missionaries

Send them a letter, email or care package to let them know you are praying for them.


We are Thankful for our Teachers

Make a thank you card or bake a treat to give to them


We are Thankful for our Fire fighters. Policemen, Doctors etc.

Deliver a basket of treats to them.


We are Thankful for our toys.

Clean out your toys and donate to a local shelter.



We are thankful for Daddy.

Do something nice or a chore for Daddy - Wash his car, take out the trash.



We are Thankful for Mommy

Do one extra chore today for her.


We are Thankful for our Clothes.

Clean out our clothes and donate clothing to a local shelter.


We are Thankful for our Sister (s).

Write a Thankful note or do a chore or something nice for her.



We are Thankful for our Brothers (s).

Write a Thankful note or do a chore or something nice for him.


We are Thankful for our friends.

Write a note, send an email, bake a special treat for them.


We are Thankful for our family.

Have a family game night.


We are Thankful for our food.

Collect food for your local shelter.



We are Thankful for our Eyes.

Watch a Movie together as a family.


We are Thankful For a Church to go to.

Volunteer to help at church this week or sign-up for a project.


We are Thankful for books.

Start a new book to read together as a family.


We are Thankful for our Neighbors.

Deliver a treat and  note of thanks to their porch -  play door bell ditch.



We are Thankful we are able to pray.

During dinner time prayer have each person pray one thing they are Thankful to God for.


We are Thankful for our Country.

Decide as a family another way yo will become ECO friendly.



We are Thankful we can write.

Write three things we are thankful for.



We are Thankful helpers.

Draw names of family members and do a secret chore for that person by tomorrow.


We are Thankful for our classmates.

Make blessing mix or another treat and give to your classmates.


We are Thankful for shoes.

Fill empty shoe boxes with items and donate to Operation Christmas Child.


We are Thankful for our pet.

Take them on a walk, clean their cage, play with them.



We are Thankful for our Military.

Make a care package to send to them or write a letter.


We are  Thankful to be Thankful.

Make a Thankful box  - all year the entire family can write what they are thankful for and then read them next Thanksgiving.



We are Thankful for our Car,

Go for a fall drive, visit a relative or friend.


We are Thankful for family memories.

Start a Thankful journal or scrapbook.



We are Thankful we can spell.

Spell out the word T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L. go around the table and ask each person to say one thing they're thankful for. The first person's answer must begin with "T." The second person's answer must begin with "H," and so on.



We are Thankful for our City.

Volunteer for a city clean-up project or other way you can serve your city.


We are Thankful for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Provide Thanksgiving dinner for a family in need or invite a family to join you.

Meal Time Conversation Starters For Thanksgiving

Create fun conversation this Thanksgiving around the table withe these free printable Conversation starters.



Click here to download yours now from Family fun.







Click here to download your free conversation starters from Skip To My Lou.

4 Thanksgiving Desserts Kids will gobble up

Dessert #1
Serve an Ice Cream Pumpkin pie rather then a traditional Pumpkin pie - What kid doesn't love ice cream.

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie
To make this twist on classic pumpkin pie, scoop chocolate chip ice cream onto a cooled graham cracker crust. Then spread a layer of vanilla ice cream -- punched up with canned pumpkin -- over the top and garnish with chocolate curls.

Click here for full Pumpkin Ice Cream pie recipe from  Parents.com 

Dessert #2
Once your kids bit into this Angel food cake  with a cranberry filling they will take back all of tier negative Cranberry sauce comments.

Angel Food Cake Roll
Cranberry sauce probably won't get much love from the kids at the dinner table, but you can sneak some of the Thanksgiving staple into their meal with this spongy Angel Food Cake Roll filled with an easy cranberry curd.  Click here for complete Angel food cake roll recipe from Parents.com


Dessert #3 
Holiday guests will gather around this wonderful, chocolate dipping sauce.

Chocolate Caramel Dipping Sauce
Kids and adults alike will enjoy dipping a variety of fruits and treats into this simple yet yummy sauce .  Click here to get complete recipe from Taste of Home.



Dessert #4
My kids favorite Thanksgiving dessert they beg me to make each year is a simple Blackberry crisp.

Blackberry Crisp
Our family favorite black berry crisp recipe is from Chef John from Food Wishes. We love to eat it warm with vanilla Ice cream.

How To Make Blackberry Crisp on Howcast

How to Make Blackberry Crisp by 5minFood

Fun Kids Thanksgiving Table Ideas

Thanksgiving is such a special time of the year.  Getting your family and closest friends together to celebrate your love and being thankful for one another is such a blessing.  I love decorating for Thanksgiving and getting the table all set up.  I tend to not put all the kids at one table because they complained years ago that they wanted to sit by other people like Grandpa, etc...  So I mix them in with the adults.  But they can become restless sitting there for that long.  So keep them occupied.

Here are some ideas to help you out!

Picture by Pottery Barn Kids



Turkey Pencil Holder Party Favors

These handmade turkey pencil holders serve lots of purposes: they're festive table decorations, great party favors, and the perfect way to give kids something to do while they wait for Thanksgiving dinner to be served. Make one for each of your littlest guests and set the table with sheets of paper for them to draw on, and watch their faces light up when they sit down.  (you can use color crayons for the younger ones too)

Click HERE to see the instructions on how to make this cute little guy from Pottery Barn!

Here is a whole place setting for your kids!

This might look tricky but once you see how it is all made you will be surprised how easy it is to make!  Click HERE to get the instructions from Fiskar

Simple and sweet – an easy way to keep ‘em busy with a cute coloring page

Click HERE for instructions and more ideas from Blissfully Domestic

Mayflower Treat Holder

Click HERE to get instructions on how to make this from My Cotton Creations

Sugar Cone Cornucopias

(you have to read the instructions on this...  the tips are curled slightly)  :)

Click HERE for this cute idea!

Gumdrop Turkeys

Look at these cute gumdrop turkeys!  Click HERE

Kids Straw Toppers

Click HERE for instructions

Pom-Pom Turkeys

These could even be used for everyone... not just kids.  :)  Click HERE for Martha Stewarts instructions

Kids Placemats

Click HERE for instructions

Turkey DIY Placemats w/ Clear Plates

Click HERE for instructions on how to make these

Hopefully these will help you out with your Thanksgiving table decor! :)  and don't forget to get the kids involved (if you want)!!