gift in a jar

I’ve recently taken a special liking for baking because my DD enjoys it.  Though it is always not easy to have her around when I am in the kitchen, a little preparation goes a long way to make the overall experience a pleasant one (for both her and me). 

For this year, I am giving away cookies in a jar to my office friends who have little ones.  This takes the pressure of measuring individual ingredients out of the way so that mommy and kids can jump right into the fun part of mixing up all the ingredients, shaping them to cookie balls and laying them on the sheet.  Giving  them pre-measured cookie ingredients  that they can bake themselves means less work for me and more fun for them.  Win-win for both the giver and receiver!  (And I am certainly keeping one for myself and my DD).

 Here are some photos during different stages of production...

This is based on the Cowgirl Cookies recipe here which got rave reviews from the people who have tried it.  I just changed it up a bit to make it more in line with the season and used red and green M&Ms instead. 

Here they are with the chocolate chips joining the mix...

And here they are fully closed and ready to be embellished.

My favourite part... making them pretty and gift worthy... For the label, I used Papertrey’s Limitless Layers Circle die and Everyday Treats stamp set.  I also used a cute bow punch from Martha Stewart (makes it so easy when you have to cut lots of them).  After finishing it, I thought that it resembled a wreath which was not really my intention.  Love it when things work out that way!

I also decorated the jar with a ribbon and a couple of berries.  The lid contains baking instructions embellished with a simple holly from a Martha Stewart punch.

Hope you are having a sweet December!