DIY Gift: “Joy Jar”

Joy Jar with 50 quotes

Every year, a group of friends of mine get together for a holiday party and gift exchange.  There are 13 people total, and 1 of us is Jewish, so gift giving can be complicated.  Most of us make our gifts for financial reasons (and we’re a crafting group), and my finances are really tight this year.  I made Poinsettia pins for everyone to wear, but needed something to make as gifts.  

I saw an idea on Pinterest for love notes in a jar for a gift for a boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, etc.  I decided to find inspirational, motivational and funny quotes and print them onto pretty paper (I scrapbook, so I have tons of paper on hand).  I typed these onto a Word document in two columns, then I cut the quotes and rolled them into cylindrical tubes.  I had a dozen plastic jars leftover from last Christmas (I had ordered twice as many as I had needed for that project).  

Quotes cut and ready for rolling

I used some Stickles in Christmas Red and wrote “Joy Jar” on the lids and set them aside to dry.  I put approximately 50 quotes in each jar.  The idea is when they are feeling a little down, or stressed, they could take out a quote to cheer them up.  This is a quick, extremely inexpensive and thoughtful gift to give to just about everyone.  If my printer wasn’t out of ink, I would have used some funny memes and pictures of cute animals.  Since I had everything for this project on hand, the total cost for me (this year) was $0.  

These jars were a big hit and one of my friends is “stealing” the idea to make jars for the shelter she volunteers for. 

TTFN,
V