Posted by Corinne Gill, Craft Expert
As a special gift for the holidays, one of the weddings staffers brought us
all homemade jam in these simple, yet perfectly packaged jars. I love the
way she mixed the patterns and colors on the paper inserts for their tops,
and the varying sizes of the jars adds a nice playfulness to the
display. Always in the wedding spirit, my first thought was how perfect
these would be as an easy but fun way to package favors. You could even turn
them into escort cards by adding your guests' names on the top, and by
matching the patterned papers to the tables--maybe by making a simple paper
napkin band to grace each setting or paper wrap around the votives or vases.
To make these perfectly packaged fellows, you'll need jars, or course, which
can usually be found in your local supermarket, or you can order larger
quantities at Canning Pantry. We used
the 8 oz. and 12 oz. quilted crystal jelly jars. And you'll need decorative
papers. I love that these are each different but coordinated. You can chose
any papers in your wedding palette--either card or text weight will work.
To cut the circles, one of my favorite tools is the Martha Stewart circle cutter, and not just because
it bears our name--seriously. It allows you to cut perfect circles from one to five-and-a-half inches, all with the same tool. We wanted ours all two-and-a-half inches to fit the jar
tops, so we put a small sticker on the right spot on the cutter to avoid searching for it every time. Once you've got all your circles cut, you'll put
them above the sealing lid, under the screw top, so it's all secured.
These are fantastic filled with homemade jam, but for those of us who are
better out of the kitchen than in it (ahem, me), you could just as easily
fill them with another goody of your choice: powdered hot chocolate, tea,
candies, or cookies. What would you put inside?
From: gingersnap | 1/7/10 at 8:12 pm
that is exactly what i do to top all of my summer canning! (instead of traditional fabric squares) I use a rubber stamp w/black ink to "Brand" my canning with an icon suiting our Farm. Great way to incorporate your wedding theme/icon there...
From: Robin | 1/26/10 at 11:12 am
Where can I find great decorative paper like this? What is a good source for text or card weight? Can you suggest any resources?
Thanks!
From: Corinne Gill | 1/26/10 at 11:37 am
My favorite sources for decorative papers are New York Central, nycentralartsupply.com, Paper Source, paper-source.com and Kate's Paperie, katespaperie.com. All have good online catalogs, but be sure to check their store locations as well. Hope this helps!
From: Heather | 5/7/10 at 9:42 am
Thank you for posting this! I was worried that my wedding favors would be kinda blah without a little something extra. Also, you can get craft paper to use for this from common stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and any other craft carrying stores.
From: Cindy | 10/26/10 at 10:57 pm
Thanks . I love this idea!