Thrifty Thursdays: A Last Minute DIY Holiday Gift Idea

Printer-Friendly Sweet & Salty Granola Recipe

Lately I've been obsessed with mason jars. I drink from them...

The mason jar cover, the "Chug-a-lug"
can be purchased here for $24.

I store my homemade almond butter in them...

Mix ingredients in food processor,
 slowly adding in olive oil until smooth & creamy.

And I even hand out my "Make it Monday" Red Velvet Cupcakes in them...

Click here for Make it Monday's
Red Velvet Cupcakes
w/Cream Cheese Frosting recipe

Photo Courtesy of: Photoblog

So needless to say when I was brainstorming what kind of holiday gifts to make this year, I knew I wanted to somehow incorporate the good ol' mason jar.

And not to mention... when I went to Target last weekend, there was a wide variety of all different shapes, sizes, and colors of mason jars to choose from-all on sale! So I grabbed a shopping cart (of course the one with the squeaky wheel) and went wild.

Below is a delicious homemade granola recipe, perfect for giving out as gifts in mason jars this holiday season. The granola will make your whole house smell absolutely delicious, and believe it or not, it tastes even better than it smells- I've been putting it on top of my yogurt all week. So without further ado...

Everyone loves granola, especially homemade. So this is a great gift for everyone from your hair dresser to child's teacher. Hand it out  this holiday season or as a "just because" gift anytime.

I even keep a mason jar of the granola with a blank gift tie in my purse, just in case I run into anyone that day.  Below is a mason jar assembly tutorial, along with a thrifty tip on how to make a scooper from a jug.

Scooper Tutorial: Cut the top part of the handle. Then cut along side edges of your plastic jug. 

I hope you all enjoyed today's Thrifty Thursday last minute gift idea. Don't forget to pin the granola recipe in order to keep it for whenever you need a last minute gift.

Create a great Thursday everyone! Below is your daily dose of inspiration inspired by friendship. After all, aren't you excited to gift your friends with this granola? I know I can't wait to give mine out this weekend. 

Joshua, age 2
Photo Courtesy of: Liz McDonald

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Make it Mondays: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Printer-Friendly Recipe

Pinterest

Recently, the Make-It-Monday series has featured a lot of dessert recipes. To me, the holidays revolves around baking. I am often giving baked goods for holiday gifts, and it is definitely my "go to" with what to make for holiday parties.                                                                          

Tomorrow is my mom's office, holiday party and  her staff has requested that I bake something for it. And since they had specifically requested a dessert, I knew that I couldn't bake just the standard batch of cookies, I had to bring my A-game. I began brainstorming creative holiday recipes and, as such, I decided to head over to Pinterest in search of inspiration..

Once on Pinterest,  I clicked on to "My recipe Index" board and looked back at desserts I had pinned. Suddenly, I  came across a DIY dessert idea I had pinned for my friend Kim's wedding. A bride and groom had given take-home desserts stored in mason jars as party favors.                            
I loved the idea of personalizing each dessert by giving each guest mason jars to take home with them. And so I headed out to Target, where I found 12- 8 oz. Bell Jars on sale for $7.19

Now that I had determined how I should my serve my dessert, I still needed to figure out what I  was going to bake. I knew that I wanted my dessert to feel festive, and so I decided that I needed to incorporate the color red somehow. That's when I thought of Red Velvet Cupcakes...

And I have to say they are out of control! The secret is definitely using a little sour cream in both the cupcake and frosting recipes. Below you will find the red velvet cupcake and cream cheese frosting recipes, along with a step-by-step tutorial for assembling the cupcakes in the mason jars.

For the cupcakes, you will need...

For the cream cheese frosting, you will need...

Now its time to assemble the cupcakes and frosting...

 I hope that you all have had a wonderful Monday and that you feel inspired to create a festive dessert this holiday season. Below is Monday's dose of inspiration. See you all tomorrow!

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