HEY EVERYBODY, REMEMBER ME?
Yeah, it's been a minute. I've just decided to give myself some grace about updating since I am exactly 9 days (at the most) from giving birth. Which is a sentence I can type and understand in theory but really is melting my brain into a puddle of Gak on the floor.
(Nickelodeon Gak? Anyone? Anyone?)
ANNNNNNNNYway, the point is, I have my entire house decorated for Christmas and my nursery done. My hospital bags are packed. I am completely ready to go, which means that for the next little while until this baby decides to make its debut, I need things to occupy myself.
Enter: a project!
I usually bake things for my neighbors at Christmas, but this year (with the help of my mom, as you'll see in a moment), I thought it would be fun to do more of a crafty gift. The idea of these cute lil' guys it that the recipient can dump out the contents of the jar into some water, simmer it on the stovetop, and make their house smell like Christmas! Once you've gathered all your ingredients, this is an incredibly easy and fun project that makes your OWN house smell delicious as you work on it. It's also really kid-friendly, so if you have young babies at home, they can easily help in assembling your jars.
You will need:
- An assistant who has graphic design experience and make your tags adorable, if you're 9 months pregnant, will go pick up all these ingredients for you and bring them to your house along with lunch. (Okay, you don't REALLY need that, but it sure does help!)
- Halo or Cutie clementines
- Whole cranberries
- Christmas tree clippings
- Mulling spices (available at World Market!)
- Mason jars
- Festive ribbon
- Cute gift tags
Then just work from the bottom up! Start with your mulling spices, which is really the key to making this smell so dadgum fabulous:
Next, add a handful of cranberries:
One or two clementines, depending on the size of your jar:
And then fill the top with Christmas tree clippings:
Seal off the jar, tie some ribbon around the top, and add a cute message along with some instructions, to the tag. Voila!
(Sorry about the extra text here - this was downloaded from my Instagram story because it was the only photo I had of the tags. Oops!)
It's so colorful and fun AND functional - the best part about these jars is that, as the water boils/simmers out, the recipient can just add more water and leave the same ingredients in your pan. Get creative if you don't have mulling spice on hand - you can use cinnamon sticks, cloves, ground nutmeg - all scents of the season.
Hope you enjoy!