start with a jar - holiday gift giving and entertaining ideas and more free printables

It's December 1st and the countdown has started! I'm sure that the kids were all excited this morning to start using their advent calendars.

Mason jars are always on my holiday packing supply list. They come in so many sizes and can be used for packaging food and so much more. Here's a simple gift idea: fill mason jars with assorted nuts, popcorn and candy then add printed labels to the lids and finish with a ribbon.

Tip: four 16oz mason jars fit inside our paper bottle bags. 

I created a series of different mason jar labels that can be used on all of our mason jar lids. I left space on most of the labels so that you can personalize them yourself before or after printing them on white card stock. 

I used fine point white chalk markers to write on these labels to add to the chalkboard design on the label. Twine or baker's twine work well on smaller jars.

These jar boxes are new and are available in two sizes. I added paper bows to the handles with mini clothespins. 

Download the printables for the mason jar lids here.

Here's another gift idea for the tea lover. Package a mason jar mug in large window box along with two glass containers filled with loose leaf tea and a mesh ball infuser. Use paper sizzle to keep the glass containers from rolling around. I created mini sticker designs to co-ordinate with our Into the Woods holiday collection for this project. The stickers are blank so you can personalize them before printing on blank sticker sheets. 

Note: I added a chalkboard sticker to the mug - the sticker is just decorative and will need to be removed for washing.

Download the printables for the stickers here.

Here's another great use for mason jars during the holidays. I use a lot of baker's twine in my holiday packaging projects and I like to store them in mason jars with daisy lids.

After we designed our Into the Woods holiday collection, we tried to find mason jar themed ornaments to sell in the stores. We could not find any so I came up with another idea ...  make my own ornaments using our mini mason jar shot glasses and lids. I came up with two different ways to hang the mini jars using twine: 1. punch a hole in the middle of the lid and add a piece of twine to hang and 2. tie the twine around the glass and create a loop for hanging.  Glue anything you want inside the jar so it stays in place and once dry add white glitter "snow".

Note: I glued a mini bottle brush tree into one jar and the other contains a "snow bunny" I made using air dry clay. I also spray painted one of the lids black.

If you've ever been on Pinterest you have most likely seen mason jars used for weddings and party decor. I painted a few of our different mason jars with chalk paint to create the projects above. You can sand them down if you want or just leave them as I have and add a touch of gold glitter to add a little glitz or a simply tie on some baker's twine for a more relaxed look.

Find them here - paper straws, chevron paper straws, chalkboard labels, chalkboard arrow stick. 

Mason jar mugs filled with hot chocolate and marshmallows make wonderful gifts. Mini marshmallow were packaged in a small clear bag before adding the daisy lid. Other details on this packaging project: linen and cotton ribbons, a gift tag, baker's twine and a pipe cleaner shaped into the letter "A". 

I am looking forward to showing some of these projects and a few more on Rogers Daytime TV Durham this Thursday at 11 and 4. If you live near our Pickering store, I hope that you will tune in!