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.
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| 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!!
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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!
ReplyDeleteHey 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! :)
ReplyDeleteA VERY sweet present!
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