Holiday in a Jar

Winter Snow Globes

Supplies you will need:

Jars

Small Holiday Characters (with a flat base)

Mini Trees

Glitter, Large Grain

Glue

Flip the jar over and place the tree and the character onto the lid.  Place the jar on top to make sure that it will fit.  Sometimes you can bend the tree to help it fit.  Glue them to the lid and let it dry for 24 hours.  Flip the jar and add about 1 cm of glitter to the bottom.  Screw on the lid and shake.

Cocoa Gifts

Supplies you will need:

Ground Unsweetened Cocoa

Sugar

Marshmallows

Chocolate Chips

Flavorings: Ground candy canes, cinnamon sticks, cayenne pepper, mint or cinnamon candies, etc.

Mason Jars

Ribbons and Tags

Candy Cane Cocoa

Layer 6T sugar into a jar.  Add about 2T chocolate chips and then 6T Cocoa.  Add 1 crushed candy cane and then fill the rest of the jar up with marshmallows.  Label with instructions “Bring 4 cups of milk to just a boil.  Whisk in the ingredients from the jar and cook about 30 seconds”.

Cayenne Cinnamon Cocoa

Layer 6T sugar into a jar and 1 cinnamon stick. Add about 2T chocolate chips and then ¼ t cayenne pepper.  Layer with 6 T cocoa and then fill up the rest of the jar with marshmallows. Label with instructions “Bring 4 cups of milk to just a boil.  Whisk in the ingredients from the jar and cook about 30 seconds”.

Basic Recipe for Hot Cocoa

1 ½ T Cocoa

1 ½ T Sugar

1 Cup Milk

Bring the milk to just a boil.  Whisk in the remaining ingredients and cook about 30 seconds.

*Use this as your guide in case your jars are smaller than the ones that I used.

Pumpkin Butter

2 Cans Pumpkin

2 Cups Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Water

1t Cinnamon

¼ t Nutmeg

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cool and put into jars or serve warm.  This should last refrigerated for about 2-3 weeks.

Gingersnap Pear Butter

4-5 Pears, Diced

1 ½ Cups Water

¾ Cups Sugar

½ t Cinnamon

2t Ground Ginger

2t Vanilla

About 18 Gingersnaps

Mix all ingredients except gingersnaps into a sauce pot and boil about 8-12 minutes or until pears are cooked.  Add gingersnaps and cook another 4 minutes.  Add a little more water if needed, but it should be thick.  Cool and put into jars or serve warm.  This should last refrigerated for about 2-3 weeks.

Cranberry Apple Jam

2 Apples, Diced

9 Oz Fresh Cranberries

2 ½ Cups Water

2 Cups Sugar

1 Orange, Zested and Juiced

Add a few pinches of spices if you like (cinnamon, ginger, cloves)

Mix all of the ingredients in a sauce pot and bring to a light boil for about 30 minutes or until all of the cranberries burst. Reduce to a thick jam.  You can thicken with cornstarch if needed. Cool and put into jars or serve warm.  This should last refrigerated for about 2-3 weeks.