6 Cute Ideas for Valentine's Day Jar Gifts

Like all holidays, Valentine's Day can be expensive, but there are ways to celebrate it inexpensively, or even to celebrate Valentine's Day without spending a dime. If you enjoy giving cute gifts to your friends and family for the holidays, it's nice to have something to give on Valentine's Day. So why not try doing something that can involve the kids so that you have a special gift to give everyone in the family, the classroom, or on your shopping list. Everybody loves to have a sweet gift to remind them that somebody loves them, so get ready to pack up some interesting crafts to give as gifts this Valentine's Day!

For those who enjoy creating unique, home-made gifts for their loved ones, stocking up on Mason Jars will help make sure that you don't have to run to the store at the last minute.

They come in a variety of sizes, and you should consider at least having quart-sized mason jars and half-pint mason jars on hand if you do a lot of jar gifts of this type. Some gifts may be best done with half-gallon and gallon jars, which are also available from Amazon. The mason jars listed to the right are the quart size, but a bit of navigating will easily lead you to other useful sizes of these jars.

Most jar recipes call for the quart size, so make sure that you're well stocked up on these!

Make sure to wash your jars thoroughly before doing anything with them. Complete sterilization is preferable. The dishwasher will perform both tasks at the same time, but you may wish to boil your jars in addition to make sure that your jars are as clean and sterile as possible. (If you don't plan on putting food into the jars, sterilization isn't necessary, but cleaning them first is still highly recommended.)

Jar crafts are great for kids because they are so terribly simple. Your kids will enjoy putting together these gift jars for their friends or teachers, you get to spend time with one another, and you save money doing it. Creativity is a great way to keep a child's mind working and active, and when you engage with your child on projects such as these, you unlock the power of their minds. Simple crafts are great for younger children, and you'll enjoy seeing what your children can come up with. Don't leave them out of your Valentine's gifting. Let them help you and have some fun doing it, too!

Hot cocoa is an easy and inexpensive jarred gift that you can make for the people you love. You can make cocoa jars in several different ways, depending on the effect that you're going for. Layered jars are quite lovely and can be accomplished by layering the powdered milk at one level, the cocoa powder on another level, and the powdered cayenne pepper on another level. You can find an excellent hot cocoa recipe here. As in this recipe, the cocoa can also be fully combined before being put into the jar and distributed. You'll find another recipe in the Youtube video to the right.

Note that you can also make jarred hot cocoa using pre-made cocoa from packets, by emptying the packets into the jar and then adding marshmallows in layers for a pretty effect.

Make your cocoa fit the occasion and the recipient. Chocolate lovers may enjoy an extra chocolatey treat (such as one with chocolate chips in addition to the cocoa powder) or you may try to experiment with white chocolate chips. Some people may enjoy a bit of spice in their hot cocoa, and you could include cayenne or cinnamon to your recipe.

Layers look very nice, so try to keep that in mind when creating your jarred hot cocoa. You may wish to choose a mason jar with a handle -- like a mug -- such as the ones illustrated in the video. These can be purchased from Amazon (see to the right).

• Write your good wishes on heart-shaped pieces of red paper.
• Create heart-shaped coupons for quality time and fill the jar with them.

This is a nice and simple project that will work for nearly everybody in your life, if they're somebody you love. The wonderful thing about this project is that it gives your loved one something that they can go back to in the months and years to come so that they can pick a slip of paper out of the jar and remind themselves of what makes them special. A "Reasons Why I Love You" jar makes a great gift to yourself for Valentine's Day too.

Dip into the jar whenever you feel you need a pick me up. This is a very restorative jar, and one that's sure to warm the heart of anyone who occasionally needs to be reminded of everything that makes them wonderful to you.

Use red, pink and white strips of paper to write your messages on. Hand-written is much nicer than typed messages. You may even choose to fold your messages into hearts so that they can be opened up when the time is right.

• Fill a jar with crayons for younger children, maybe with some coloring sheets.
• Fill a jar with small toys or even a stuffed animal.

Most kids love crafts, and a jar you've filled with the materials for a craft project makes a great gift for crafty kids. Obviously you can get them involved in helping you to make the jars as well, but this is something that you can put together for a classroom full of children which will encourage their creativity to blossom. Make it Valentine's themed, or maybe keep the materials in red and pink colors to celebrate the holiday and encourage the children receiving the jars to complete their projects in time for February 14th.

Some suggested projects that could fit into a jar are:

• scissors and small pieces of construction paper, plus paper doilies for making your own valentines.
• left over broken bits of crayons for melting them down into new crayons.
• ingredients to make sugar cookies with Mom, including icing and heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Make sure to include a tag on your jar with instructions for how to do the craft so that Mom or Dad can help the child to complete the project!

As a variation on this project, you can sprinkle red, white and pink glitter onto your project once you've coated the tissue paper with the glue/water mixture. This is a very nice effect, but can be difficult to get just right.

Remember, there is no wrong in crafts!

These jars are a great way to get the kids involved! This messy project involves tissue paper, white glue (Elmer's is recommended) and sponges. The instructions are included below. Note that this project can be accomplished with glass candle holders as well, instead of with Mason Jars, and you'll get a very nice effect. Give these as gifts with rose or vanilla scented votive candles so that they can be lit and used. Their effect when lit is very pretty, and sure to brighten up any Valentine's Day table!

Materials:

• Small (half-pint) Mason Jars or plain glass votive-holders
• Red, Pink and White Tissue Paper
• White Glue
• Sponges
• Water
• Small bowl for mixing glue

Instructions

• Tear or cut the tissue paper into small pieces. You may choose to cut these pieces into heart shapes if that's what you like, but note that you'll be layering them over one another so the heart shape may be lost in the effect.
• Water the glue down just enough to make it slippery. Experiment with the texture a bit until you have it right.
• Coat the entire outside of your jar with glue (emphasis to indicate not to use the glue/water mixture) using one of the sponges. Make sure that it's coated well enough for the tissue paper to stick to it, but that it's not so thick that it clumps.
• Press tissue scraps into the glue and smooth them out until they are flat against your jar or candle holder.
• Dip the sponge into the glue/water mixture and spread this mixture over the top of the tissue paper to set it onto the candle holder, protect it, and to give it a slight shine. You can do this as you go along (recommended).
• Light a candle and put it into the jar.
• Watch your candle-holder sparkle!

Jar candles are a wonderful effect, though not necessarily easy to make. There are quite a few steps to creating the perfect jar candle, but they will make a beautiful gift for your valentine's gift recipients this year, and you should get great results from this project!

Color your candles with pink or red (if you color them at all instead of leaving them white). Pink is the color of romantic love and red is the color of passionate love. It's nice to think about the type of person you're giving the candle to. If they might want to burn the candle on Valentine's Day with their partner, red isn't altogether inappropriate, but if you're giving a candle to a friend, you might want to go with pink instead of red because of the frequency of the color and its effect on the mind.

Scents to consider include anything with a moderately romantic connotation. Rose is nice, as is Vanilla. You could even consider cinnamon or cherry scents if you can find what you're looking for! Use something that will give a romantic feel to the person burning the candle this Valentine's Day!