Organic Gift Packaging

granola
granola gifts! with or without the honey. Yummy for a new neighbor as a housewarming gift, and so easy to throw together: the trick is using old ball jars or any recycled glass jars you have lying around, and a heavy canvas or muslin to iron on images, notes or even recipes.


potted planting gift
we’ve been giving these little potted planting gifts for the last year. valentine’s day, hostess gifts; they are perfect for an aspiring cook or someone with a new home. each pot has a ceramic white fruit or veg with matching seeds that we repackaged (one of our easy tricks to make ANYTHING look good) the seeds are in glassine envelopes with the planting directions printed on kraft paper stickers.

tea

pickling gift

muslin fabric

Homeade Vanilla

Brown Paper Gift Bag

Labor Survival Kit

Just print out the "Hospital Survival Kit" label provided below on card stock, cut out, and use craft glue to glue to attach it to the front of a paper gift bag (don't overdo it with the glue or your label will wrinkle).

For the circular tag, cut out the provided tag and use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top, then attach to one of the gift bag handles with coordinating ribbon.

Then fill 'er up!

Here are some ideas for things to include in the survival kit:

1. Headband and hair ties: When you're focusing on riding out those painful contractions everything gets on your nerves, including stray hair in your face. Plus after being in a hospital bed for 10 hours, your hair tends to look like a troll doll's. When a hoard of family and friends show up to visit you and your little bundle, you're gonna want to tie that mess up.

2. A healthy snack: Many times, babies don't plan their arrival at a convenient hour. My first was polite enough to be born in the evening right before American Idol began, so no problem there. My son, however, was born at 12:37am. By that time there was no available food service for this hungry mama, so I ended up eating a handful of graham crackers and a packet of peanut butter. Unless you prefer to eat like you're in daycare again, snacks are a must. They're also a nice substitute for the hospital food if it turns out to be nasty.

3. A not-so-healthy snack: Chocolate. Because you just gave birth to a person. I'd say you deserve some chocolate, wouldn't you?

4. Face cleansing wipes: Facial wipes to remove makeup and dirt are so helpful to a mother who just had a baby because most of the time you can't get out of bed. Plus, something as simple as washing your face or brushing your teeth make you feel human again after having a baby.

5. Chap stick and other personal care items: How torturous is it that you're not allowed to drink anything when you're in labor? Forget the stinkin' ice chips, somebody breathe on my ice chips and melt them into water!! So of course since you're denied water, your lips tend to become dry and chapped. Take it from me, chap stick is a life saver. And it's even better when it's Burt's Bees pomegranate chap stick, because it's the best chap stick. Ever.

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Click HERE to download and print labels to make your own Hospital Survival Kit. I included labels in pink for a baby girl, blue for a baby boy, and a neutral green as well.

(The labels are approximately 7 1/2" x 3")

Gift Bracelet

We kept the pattern simple by using a basic braid.  Then, we fancied them up a bit with a sweet card + punched holes to lace the bracelets through.

Baby Shower Favor

 I used smooth Ball canning jars that have a two-piece cover: a flat metal lid, covered by a screw-on ring. To secure the nipple, place it on top of the metal lid and then put the screw-on ring over it - no adhesive required!



Cowgirl Cookies
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

They’re smooth Ball jars made especially for crafts. Smooooooth. No embossed logos in the glass.
 So, here’s the recipe:

Cowgirl Cookies
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.


Add
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.

Then roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about 26-28 cookies out of these.

Start with a 1 quart smooth Ball jar. I found these at Hobby Lobby craft store.
Layer the ingredients in like this:
First: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Second: oats
Third: m&ms
Fourth: chocolate chips
Fifth: brown sugar
Sixth: white sugar
Seventh: chopped pecans
Pack each level down really tightly. I mean it. Pack it in. Or else it won’t all fit. Also, I added the chopped pecans last, because if the ingredients were too much or not enough, then I could add more or less pecans to adjust. I’d rather sacrifice nuts than chocolate, you know. The ingredients should be flush to the top of the lid when you seal it up.

Everything in a Jar

 

{energy} in a jar

Peanuts

White Chocolate Hot Drink Mix

Suisse Mocha Latte Mix

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Energy Bar

Milk Chocolate Truffles

{pampering} in a jar

Cozy Socks

Sunshine Daisy Lotion

Sunshine Daisy Fragrance Spray

Moisture Rich Hand Creme

Soothing Massage Bar Soap

Eye Treatment Cream

Facial Scrub

Lip Balm

{refreshment} in a jar

Facial Cleaning Towelettes

Wrinkle Release Spray

Disposable Mini Toothbrushes

Tide To Go Mini Pen

Peppermint Gum

Peppermint Altoids

Mini Brush and Mirror Combo

Brush and Mirror Combo

The first step for assembly is to stuff the goodies into the jars.  This takes some planning and coordination.  A long pencil can help with shuffling items around and getting them to fit.

I designed some labels to print off and put on the jars.  You can print these labels out, free of charge, if you would like to make your own jars.  The first one is has the wording on the ovals and the second is blank so you can add whatever you want.  I think I made the images large enough that you should just be able to print them from clicking on the image.  My printer just ran out of ink so I can't test it but if it doesn't work just let me know and I can add a Google Doc or email you the file.

***update December 2011***

1)  Right click on the image above of the label you want and choose "Open Link In A New Window".  It should open the labels in a new browser window.  From that browser window, you can right click and choose "Save Image As" to save the labels to your computer.  Then, just print them from your computer.

2) I have created a Google Doc for each of the label files so you can download and print them from there:

{Everything} In A Jar labels

{Everything} In A Jar ~ No Words Labels

Okay, second issue...some people have had questions about how to add their own wording to the blank labels.  Just download the file to your computer and then open it in a photo editing program and add the words.  Picnik is a great FREE online photo editing program, if you do not have one to use already.

I cut out the labels and using Elmer's CraftBond Glue Spots #GlueNGlitter in the thin small style, I attached the long strip to the back of the jar.

Then, using more glue spots, I wrapped the strips around the jar.  The 2 ends don't meet but that is okay because the oval will cover the opening.

Using more of the glue spots, I attached the oval label.

Here are some more fun ideas we came up with for jars:

{tide me over} in a jar

Beef Jerky

Nuts

Trail Mix

Granola Bars

Single Serving Drink Mix

{first aid} in a jar

Bandaids

Tweezers

Ibuprofen

Ointment

Gauze

Hand Sanitizer

Non Latex Gloves

Antiseptic Wipes

{s'mores} in a jar

Marshmallows

Chocolate Bars

Graham Crackers

{relaxation} in a jar

Mini Candles

Bath Salt

Massage Oil

Eye Mask

{sewing} in a jar

Mini Scissors

Thread

Thimble

Buttons

Seam Ripper

Needles

You get the idea!  This gift can be for teens, moms, kids, friends or anyone else.  Just customized the jar to the recipients tastes!  It is fun to try to find mini items that will fit in the jars!