I don’t know about you, but it feels like the holiday season is flying by and it’s only just begun! Are you feeling that way, too? If so, here’s a simple gift idea that takes only a few minutes to put together, but feels special and handmade. I’ve shared this idea before, but wanted to bump it to the top again this year since it’s such a popular gift idea. Hot chocolate in a jar makes a terrific gift for teachers, coaches, neighbors, co-workers or friends, anyone you want to give a little something warm and sweet. My teenage daughter has even given this as a gift to her friends.

Hot chocolate in a jar from simplify101.com

Here’s a quick run-down on the supplies I used and how I put the jars together.

Supplies:

Jars:  Hermetic Glass Storage Jars from The Container Store (The jars shown are 16 oz)

Ribbon:  Offray from Walmart

Tags:  I made the tags using Word and my laser printer. The front said “Hot Cocoa” and was printed on white card-stock. The back of the tag was printed in red and had instructions for making the hot cocoa. (Mix 3 tablespoons of cocoa with ¾ cup hot water. Stir + enjoy!)

After printing out the tags I used two circle punches to form the circles. (The back, red circles were about 1/4″ bigger than the white circles.) I glued the red and white circles together using glue stick.

Next, I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch a small hole at the top of each tag and add an eyelet.

Inside the Jars:

I filled the jars in layers (from bottom up) with:

Hot Chocolate:  Stephens Milk Chocolate Gourmet Hot Cocoa

Mini chocolate chips.

Mini marshmallows.

After the first failed “make-your-own-hot-chocolate” experiment, I decided to go with something tried and true. Stephens has been my personal favorite hot cocoa for years (since 2007 actually), and so I thought it was the perfect cocoa to share with family and friends.

I measured enough cocoa to have complete servings in the jar (such as six servings per jar) but left room on the top of the jars for mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. After adding the cocoa, I shook the jars back and forth a bit to make sure the layer was flat in the jar, and then added the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows on top.

Once the jars were full, I strung a ribbon around the top and tied on the tag with white embroidery floss. Here’s one more look at how they turned out.

Hot cocoa simplify101

I’ll definitely give these as gifts again. (I’ll just skip the step where I make a really awful batch of homemade cocoa before breaking down and going with my tried and true Stephen’s.)

Let me know if you have any other questions about this project. Thanks!

Aby

P.S. We’ve just opened up enrollment for our January Organize-athon! Hope to see you online soon.