Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Peanuts Gang!

Ok well maybe not peanuts exactly... maybe more just nuts in general.  Does anyone else have trouble getting presents for their grandparents around the holidays?  I am lucky enough to have 2 of my grandparents alive and kickin' at 85! WOO! But they are impossible to shop for.  They have every single thing they would ever need.  EVER.  So just as a little token, every year I've gotten them each a bag of Lindt Chocolate.


But this year, that's a big no-no.


We found out in the Spring that my Grandfather has developed diabetes, which restricts him from eating sweets and other foods.  So out goes that whole candy idea.  But I found out that instead of snacking on sweets, they've been snacking on various nuts and dried fruits.  The light bulb went off.

Decorative Nut Jar, anyone?


Yes please!  But I wasn't about to go out and BUY something like that. Oh no.  I wanted to make it myself and it was the easiest project I've ever tackled. 

I took a trip to Trader Joes' and picked up 3 variations of nuts and 1 package of dried mangos. They don't come cheap, mind you, they were about $4-$6 each bag but well worth it. And then on another trip to Target, I picked up an Anchor Hocking cracker jar.



I decided, instead of mixing the nuts and dried mangos up like a trail mix, I wanted to layer them to make it visually interesting.


I put cashews on the bottom, then mango, then almonds, then mangos and lastly, candied pecans.  I liked the mangos because they were large enough that I could actually used them as dividers between the layers and the pop of color was really fun!


It fit perfectly! To snaz it up a little, I added a country farm feel by cutting a square of green and white striped fabric...


A handy tip is to fold it into a triangle to ensure that your square is, well.... actually square! 


I put it over the lid of the jar, and held it on temporarily with an elastic and tied a strand of red rick rack around it. 

Can you see the remnants of a fight with some wrapping paper? Oh yes....

Once I had the rick rack snugly tied onto the lid, I removed the elastic and tied a pretty little bow.  And there you have it!! Super duper easy and thoughtful gift for that health nut {haha get it? Nut? I crack myself up.}  on your Christmas list!  

So tell me, Nesters... what homemade gifts are you giving this year?  Or semi-homemade, at least!  I want to hear all about it so, do tell! Keep the comments comin' we've got 9 days left for Cans for Comments!!

3 comments:

  1. I really like the jar but you should have looked at the dollar store. I'm telling you, they had the cutest glass jar when I went the other day. Great gift idea! I feel like everyone gives chocolate so the nuts are something different and WAY more healthy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Ash! I would have gone to the Dollar Store but they don't have one near me so Target it was. It was only about $4 so for the convenience, it was worth the extra few bucks! :)

    ReplyDelete

Heya Nesters! I always love your feedback! So dish, because we all want to hear it! <3