Decorating Jars for Your Holiday Gifts

Decorating Jars for Your Holiday Gifts-Sugar Free Cookie Recipes

Use paint, labels, stencils, decoupage, and embellishments to make your jars look special. Match gifts and jar decorations to the person receiving the gift. Then attach a matching gift card to your jar.

Sugar Free Cookie Recipes

Use glass canning jars, glass bottles, old-fashioned wire bail jars, recycled jars, antique jars, or plastic storage jars. Jars must have tight fitting lids.

Sterilize Jars for Food Gifts

The jars you use to package food gifts should be glass and sterilized before use.
Check all jars for chips and cracks. If chipped or cracked, don't use for food. Use new lids. Wash with hot, soapy water; then rinse. To sterilize jars, place on a rack in a large pot and cover with water. Let water come to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from boiling water and let dry. Jars and lids can also be sterilized in your dishwasher.
Methods to Decorate Your Jars

Decorate With Paint

Always wash jar in hot soapy water to remove grease or residue.

Select a paint intended for use on the surface you are decorating. Read the label on the paint container to determine the paint's compatibility with your surface. This rule goes for painting on glass, metal lids, or plastic jars and lids.

Acrylic craft paints are not permanent and can be rubbed or washed off.
Acrylic Glass Paints are best for glass jars. They come in a wide variety of pre-mixed colors in convenient squeeze bottles to decorate your gift jars. These types of paints can be baked in a home oven to make them more durable and washable. (Read the label) To bake, let the paint dry on the jar for 48 hours. Place glass jar in a conventional oven (not preheated) and heat to 325 degrees F. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow jar to cool in oven before removing. After baking painted jars can be hand washed. Washing in a dishwasher is not recommended. Air-Dry Enamel Paints for Glass are opaque, brush-on glass paints available that air dry to a high-gloss, waterproof finish. Choose a brand that is water-based and non-toxic. Paints for Plastic are brush-on paints especially formulated for adhering to plastic and dry to a durable, waterproof finish. Water-based types allow you to clean brushes and spills with soap and water. Paint Pens are available in craft shops and come in a wide selection of colors. They are great for detailing and simple jar decoration. Fabric Paints can be used for special effects like wording or facial features. Can also be used to decorate lids. They squeeze directly from the bottle.

Paint a design on the jar using pre-cut purchased stencils or a design you cut yourself from freezer paper. You can also paint the design on your jar free-hand. Draw the outline with a Sharpie Fine Point Permanent marker or paint free-hand. Use caution as the Sharpie marker will smudge on glass.

Decorate With Labels

Make paper labels created on your computer and then printed, or draw label on your choice of paper.

To give your labels an aged appearance spatter with brown acrylic paint thinned in water. Use an old tooth brush for spattering.

Lightly sponge the edges of the label using a dense foam sponge and the spattering mixture.

Allow labels to dry; then glue or decoupage to jar.

Decorate with Decoupage

Use Mod Podge Gloss Lustre decoupage medium for your jars.

Decoupage is done in three basic steps: cutting, gluing, and sealing.
Trim away excess paper from the image or picture you wish to use. Using a foam brush, lightly coat the back of the image with decoupage medium. Position the image on the surface and smooth it with your fingers, pushing out wrinkles and air bubbles. Allow to dry. Apply two or three coats of decoupage medium over the image with a foam brush to seal the paper. The image appears cloudy when wet, but will dry crystal clear.

Decoupaged jars can be wiped with a damp cloth to clean but cannot be washed in a
dishwasher or submerged in water.

You can create a paper collage jar using decoupage. A collage is a group of pictures or images layered and overlapped to form a display. Use printed photos, interesting paper, stamps, and stickers. Arrange the images by overlapping them for a decorative display. Attach and seal them with two or three coats of decoupage medium.

Decorate with Fabric

If you prefer not to decorate the outside of the glass or plastic jar, add decoration to the lid.

Cover the top of the jar lid with fabric or a small lace fabric or paper doily. Use holiday or gingham fabric cut with pinking sheers. Add three to four inches to the diameter dimension of the jar lid for coverage and decoration. A circular piece of batting can be used under the fabric for a stuffed appearance. A counted cross stitch design can also be used on top of the jar. Place the fabric over the lid on the jar or place over the lid seal and then add the screw-on band. Lace or braid can be glued around the band.

Embellishments

A variety of items can be used to embellish your decorated jar. Make your embellishment compliment the contents. If your gift jar contains a Gingerbread Cookie Mix attach a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Add a holiday cookie cutter to a Sugar Cookie Mix. Attach a tea ball or infuser to a jar of tea. Attach a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or wire whisk to other mixes.

Make a tag or card to coordinate with the jar decoration or contents and attach with a ribbon or raffia.

Embellishments include ribbon, holiday garlands, gold braid or cord, raffia, lace, buttons, beads, charms, tassels, or bandanas.

Choosing Glues

For gluing items to jars, silicon-based glue for glass works best. It also works well for gluing wood to glass, metal to glass, or plastic to glass. It can also be used to attach items to metal or wooden lids. Silicone-based glue dries slowly so you will have to prop the jar carefully until the glue is dry.

A glue gun can be used for attaching light objects such as ribbon to the jar for instant hold.

White craft glue is used for gluing unbaked polymer pieces to a jar or lid before baking in the oven.

Gift Jar Contents

Use your imagination and consider who the gift is for when deciding on the contents. Food mixes are very popular. Gift jars can also contain sewing notions, keep sakes, games, snack foods such as trail mix, nuts n' bolts or chex mix, candied nuts, candied popcorn, Christmas candy or jelly beans, coffee, tea, flavored vinegars and oils in glass bottles, potpourri or fragrance gel, bath salts, and a baked cake-in-a-jar.

If you plan to give a food mix, first choose the recipe and ingredients. Food mixes often look better when the ingredients for the mix are layered in the jar. The recipient can mix the ingredients before using them.

If you plan to give a mix you will need:
A small bottle to tamp down the ingredients as you layer or place them in the jar. A canning funnel or piece of card stock to make a simple funnel for filling jars. Paper towels to wipe powdery ingredients off inside of jar.
Tips for Packing Food Ingredients

Layer ingredients in the jar in the order given in the recipe. Wipe down the sides of the jar with a clean paper towel after adding powdery ingredients such as sugar, cocoa, or flour before adding the next ingredient for a better appearance. Pack down all ingredients firmly as they are added. If you don't, you won't have enough space to fit in all the ingredients. Generally, a quart holds 6 cups of packed down ingredients; a pint jar holds 3 cups of packed down ingredients. If ingredients do not come to top of the jar, fill space with crumpled plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent the ingredients from shifting and mixing. After packing ingredients into jar, seal with the lid. Attach a card with the recipe, instructions, a list of any additional ingredients, and a holiday greeting.
Baked Cake-in-a-Jar

Use a pint-sized wide-mouth canning jar with a two-part lid (flat seal and screw-on band) when baking a cake-in-a-jar. The wide mouth allows the cake to slide out of jar. Choose a cake-in-a-jar recipe or adjust your favorite cake recipe to make in jars. Place one cup of prepared cake mix in pint jar. Bake according to directions. Jars and lids must be sterilized before using. (Use new lids) Bake cake and add lid as soon as cake is removed from oven. Carefully place flat seal on top of jar and then the screw-on band. Jar is very hot so do not burn yourself. Allow jar to cool and then test to make sure the jar is sealed. If the cake does not seal properly, eat cake, refrigerate or freeze until ready to eat. The sealed jars of cake can be stored without refrigeration for up to two months. Attach a tag with the name of the cake and that says, "Best eaten before (two months from date the cake was baked)."

Give yourself plenty of time to decorate your gift jars and plan the contents for each person on your Christmas list. Fill the jars, then sit back and relax. Sip a cup of hot spiced cider and enjoy the holidays.

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Holiday condition Alert - Cut Out Sugar - Cut in Cookies

Cut out Christmas Sugar Cookies because your child has sugar and wheat allergies? No way! This report aims to convince you that it is easy to make the infamous Sugar Cookie wholesome without using processed sugar and flour. You may know these two white wonders as the evil twins most likely responsible for the symptoms I call the holiday haze. They are sugar binging and crashing, irritability, and tummy aches just to name a few. If you are at all piquant how to make wholesome cookies that feature an all natural and organic sugar-free icing, read on and get ready to roll out the dough.

Cut in sweets without the ill side affects. This in it self is a miracle. First, I would like to tell you about the origins of this heaven sent cookie and why I want to share this treat with you and your family.

Sugar Free Cookie Recipes

Christmas means make a mess in the kitchen with the kids: white sweet masks everyone from head to toe, even the dog and kitty. Nothing lights up a child's face like development Christmas cookies, not even the Christmas tree.

I love the sugar cookie because it is creatively kid friendly. The dough is durable, can be rolled out over and over, and the character cut outs make a story for all to imagine. As a kid, all I could do was happily anticipate eating the angel, Santa, and Rudolph the reindeer. About five times each. This holiday joy was inevitably distracted by dread. I'd soon feel the sugar rush through my minute obese body. I was always 45 pounds overweight. My joints would ache and messed up was my digestion all night long and into the next day. The memory of feeling the warmth of my mother's kitchen, the relaxation to express with cookie cutters, and the greatest disappoint of ill-health just didn't mix. This was not a method for success. Sugar Cookies used to mean joy and pain. At least they did for me, and so I did something about it. I wanted just joy.

I took a sugar cookie method from my Aunt Diane, Sicilian by decent, an expert in dough from pizza to cannolis, and when she belts out the Ave Maria, it brings me to tears. Any woman who sings while she bakes you know is going to roll out a tasty dough. So taking my aunt's family recipe, I used my transcribing method of converting the white processed sugar and flour to alternative sugar-free/gluten-free ingredients and created a Cut Out Sugar Cookie to share with everyone.

I use alternative ingredients to white wheat flour such as an all-purpose gluten-free flour by Bob Redmill's that combines garbanzo bean, fava bean, tapioca and potato starch for the right cookie texture. I use white rice flour for a white cookie color and for flouring the dough and cookie cutters. Xanthan gum is a critical ingredient for gluten-free baking and is added to hold the gluten-free flour together. Just a small estimate is needed of this plant based gum.

For the sugar I substitute agave, stevia, and a compound of oligofructose and erythritol in a goods called Swerve that can be found at pcflabs.com, some Whole Foods, and health food stores. Organic erythritol is a fermented polyol or sugar alcohol with no digestive ill side affects. Swerve also adds oligofructose which is inulin from chickory. Both ingredients have no glycemic or very low glycemic index and very easy digestion. Neither promotes tooth decay.

Swerve is the most affordable wholesome baking sugar change that looks and acts the most like sugar in baking. Swerve replaces the volume and firmness as well as adding an very low calorie sweetness in a recipe. Just using erythritol products without the added oligofructose like Zsweet and Zero brands of erythritol are not as good for baking because the taste isn't as sweet, but straight erythritol works great as table sugars to sprinkle on cereals and yogurts. They can both be found at Whole Foods and health food stores on on the internet.

Also in the recipe, my aunt Diane uses sour cream which gives the dough an extra added moistness and elasticity that makes for great taste and a dough that can be rolled out many times over. The easy roll out factor is very leading when it comes to development this cookie method with kids.

To substitute for the dairy, a soy yogurt can be used but it may change the color of the dough to a darker color. The original look of the dough should be a backdrop of white and the color of the icing could be a pink or green for a holiday theme. Someone else way to switch out the sour cream is to use Total Greek 2% yogurt. This is a wholesome version while still using dairy.

Knowing the substitutes, it time for the tricks of development the recipe.

"Carefully roll out the gluten-free/sugar-free dough with a white rice floured rolling pin between two sheets of wax paper. Make sure both sides of the dough are lightly floured with the white rice flour as well. White rice flour is my flour of selection for rolling out gluten-free dough because it is grainy and won't stick. Also, flour your cookie cutters in the white rice flour. Dip a thin metal spatula in the white rice flour to lift up the cut out cookies and gradually slide onto your baking sheet," are words you would hear me say in a cooking class or on my Sweet Truth Cooking Tv show on Veria. A hands-on interactive class is the best way for eager learners of the gluten-free/sugar-free alternative baking technique to perceive a tactile inequity in this wholesome dough as compared to the old-fashioned white, wheat flour dough. To get a grip on gluten-free, one must see and feel how the new dough behaves: how it takes longer to mix up, looks more crumbly, sticks to your hands, needs more exertion to roll out, as a matter of fact breaks apart, and ultimately bakes and browns faster than a original sugar/wheat dough.

Sounds difficult? Trust me. It's worth the minute extra exertion and elbow grease to make this dough work like magic and generate a wholesome cookie that everyone will love. The best part is that you'll feel good about feeding it to the masses. Practice makes perfect when handling the dough. Use your senses to know when to stop rolling the dough. Also, a kitchen timer is the key safety device for perfectly baked gluten-free cookies.

The above mentioned techniques are just a few of the fun new tricks of the trade to collect when it comes to the art and science of creating your version of popular Sugar Cookie, alternative style. Like interval training, these methods go a long way: sugar-free/gluten-free baking allows you to have your cookies and eat them too! There is no extra calories, bloat, weight gain, or binging because there is no sugar or white processed flour. Sugar cookies are not just for holidays as popular culture would have it. Look at Starbucks, Gelson's, or your local bakery. They all sell fanciful, colorful, kid-like wannabe and wanna bite sugar-cookies all year round and for every change of season. It's not just the winter holidays that sugar cookies intrude our veins and spike our glucose levels. Yet who wants to as a matter of fact give up cookies? And icing. Um, no!

For the icing, again Swerve found at pcflabs.com is the sugar of selection and makes the best tasting. You can also use natural fruits and vegetables for food coloring for your icing by adding beet juice for pink or red and by juicing kale or spinach for green. Use unsweetened coconut and Goji berries for extra charm and creativity!

This Cut-Out Sugar Cookie method tastes and looks like the real thing. Now when I make these cookies, the kid in everyone comes to the table and can get up from their chairs feeling clear, vibrant, creative, and healthy. They are at peace with themselves and their stomachs. Have fun!

cut out sugar cookie

a frosted cut-out cookie made with agave - no sugar, no wheat, and no gluten

Dough 1 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup Swerve sugar alternative 2 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup light agave 2 droppers Liquid Stevia Vanilla Creme 3 cups gluten-free flour 1 cup white rice flour 1 cup potato flour 4 packets or 2 teaspoons Stevia Plus Powder 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Icing 1 cup Swerve sugar alternative, powdered 2 teaspoons unsweetened almond milk 1 dropper Liquid Stevia Vanilla Crème 2 teaspoons light agave 2 teaspoons beet juice (optional)

For cookies: With paddle attachment in stand up mixer, cream shortening and Swerve. Add in eggs and beat until fluffy. Add in vanilla, sour cream, agave, and Liquid Stevia and blend.

In isolate bowl, sift together gluten-free flour, white rice flour, potato flour, Stevia Powder, baking powder, baking soda, and xanthan gum.

With paddle attachment in stand up mixer, add pre-sifted dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix. Scrape down sides of bowl. If needed, add a bit of flour to hands first and then form dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 2 hours or over night for best results to firm up dough.

Between two floured sheets of wax paper, roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Peel the top layer of wax paper off dough. Cut out cookies with floured cookie cutters and place on non-greased cookie sheet. This dough is very durable and can be rolled out many times.

Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Depending on how thick or thin you roll the dough will depend on long you bake the cookies. Watch cookies carefully. The cookies should not brown or even be golden, but will appear white when they are done. Cookies are done when spring back to the touch. Cool on wire rack.

For frosting: To make powdered Swerve, place Swerve in a high powdered blender and blend on high for about five seconds then measure 1 cup. In stand up mixer with paddle attachment, mix well Swerve, milk or water, Liquid Stevia, agave, and fruit or vegetable powder for coloring. Beat icing for 2-3 minutes until glossy. Frost cookies with icing when cooled.

Yield: Five dozen cookies.

Holiday condition Alert - Cut Out Sugar - Cut in Cookies