Typically New Years is the time to be reflective, but I’ve been thinking about the past year since Thanksgiving. It was just before Thanksgiving last year when we found out the job my husband held for 16 years would end – they were closing the plant. Of course we weren’t isolated – seemed like you couldn’t turn on the news without hearing about layoffs and job cuts all across the country.
But rest assured – this is not a blog about that (only the info dump backstory). This is a blog about how our family opted to make our Christmas gifts last year, and because I’m a Girl Scout leader, we made s’mores in a jar and because I have elementary aged school children – we made candles out of old crayons. Both easy, and I’d love to share my s’more recipe – what’s more – I’d love to hear your homemade gifts!
S’mores In A Jar
1. Crush one sleeve of graham crackers and place at bottom of mason jar (I have notations on my card this may have been too much – so there’s wiggle room).
2. Place 1/2 cup of chocolate chips on top of graham crackers (can use festive colored M&Ms).
3. Place one holiday peep so pretty side is facing jar.
4. Hold in place with 1/3 cup of brown sugar.
5. Fill to top with mini marshmallows.
Attach to jar:
1. Empty the contents into a bowl. Snip the peep into bits. Add bits to the mixture. Mix well.
2. Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Pat into a greased 8″ or 9″ square pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
This year our Christmas is different. Spring brought a new job for my husband, and this Thanksgiving was filled with thankful and grateful and any other kind of ful we could think of. Tuesday I was wrapping gifts with my daughter and she said, “Remember how much fun last year was when we made all our gifts together?”
Wow, that’ so not how I remember last year. There’s a lesson in that for me. When the ball drops and it’s no longer 2009, I’ll be glad to put this roller coaster year behind, but I’ll keep trying to remember that lesson in 2010 and beyond.
I know this is still a stressful time for many out there career wise – please know I am praying that the job will come to you soon.
So – now share your favorite “in a jar” recipe.
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Hey Jill, I don’t have a in a jar story to share. It is great to see you around. I missed you. I am glad that you were able to get such valuable time with your family despite the circumstances. Maybe it was what you needed at the time. Have a wonderful time with family and friends this Christmas. Merry, Merry and Happy, Happy!!!
Peace and love,
Paula R.
Hi!
I too have made candles out of old crayons by heating them in tin cans held in boiling water on the stovetop (and swishing them like crazy to help the globs melt), but I’ve also used that mixture to make muffin-tin-sized NEW crayons for the kids. Our remaining crayons are probably 15 years old now, but they still work really well. Because I just poured the liquid into muffin tins to cool (then froze them so they popped out easily), they are not going to snap/break like the old crayons did! You can either mix all the same colour to ensure you have a colour you want (like red candles or red new crayons) or you can just throw them all in together and hope for the best. We use those old crayons all the time for writing notes around here, as they “never run out of ink” and they “never need to be sharpened”. Gotta love them!
This isn’t a jar story either, but it’s one of those “saving money/economy” things I also do. We buy Mennon Stick Original (green) stick deodorant. When it gets low, I melt it in a container (only used for this purpose) in my microwave for perhaps 10 seconds or so, and then I pour it all into the next deodorant container, although it must be down to a level that will leave room for the new deodorant. The liquid solidifies quickly and voila, you have more deodorant to use before you get to the original solid underneath. The bonus is that the old deodorant container is now cleaned out (and not wasted), I pop it in the dishwasher’s cutlery section to wash it, and it then goes in my recycling. It’s a win-win situation, but it doesn’t work with white pasty deodorants.
Cowboy Candy
1 1/2 cups sliced jalapenos
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Cook ingredients until syrup becomes thick – about 15-20 minutes (it never thickened for me, but was still good) Cool and store in jelly jar in the fridge. Serve with cream cheese and crackers.