Guest post from Michele at Bella Home Goods. This is a great holiday craft that is easy on the budget, is a breeze to make, and tastes great too!
Happy Holidays Money Savvy Friends!
Everyone knows the holidays can be busy and before you know it they pass us by so lets enjoy the reason for the season and take on some true meaning of the holiday spirit. Take some time out of your busy schedule to create something special this month, like a homemade craft and delicious warm baked cookies.
My children get so excited with our tradition of baking homemade Christmas cookies and decorating them with sprinkles, and who can resist the smell of home baked deliciousness? They make winter feel like the holidays, especially after eating a few warm and freshly baked cookies with a tall glass of cold milk. Yum.
The gift giving craft is a Glass Etched cookie jar and then add your favorite homemade holiday cookie recipe to the cookie jar. Below is one of our family favorites, Old Fashioned Homemade Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They bake perfectly each time, we make them and I know your family will love them too.
My wish for your family and ours is to make the best possible memories for them so they can look back and think, I remember growing up how wonderful our family holidays were, and have those warm and fuzzy feelings that they will one day repeat with their children and grandchildren.
Ingredient List :
- 1 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon hot water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups quick oats
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Sift together flour, soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream together salted butter and sugars; add eggs, one at a time. Stir in hot water, vanilla and flour mixture.
Add remaining ingredients; mix well.
Drop two teaspoons of cookie batter using a Pampered Chef medium scoop onto baking sheet.
Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes.
Now onto the fun part, the crafting!
I went to HomeGoods and they have a big selection of cookie jars shaped in a cylinder or the old fashioned glass cookie jar, and either will be fun to decorate. The cylinder jar I found at HomeGoods was $5. Next, I stopped off at Michael’s craft store and picked up some Martha Stewart glass etching cream and the tool to apply the etching cream and then picked out an adhesive Martha Stewart stencil.
Clean the surface of the glass that you would like to etch with rubbing alcohol and then you can apply the adhesive stencil to where you would want to apply your etching design. When you apply the etching cream apply it heavily on top of the stencil and you leave the cream on for 15 minutes. Any less, and the cream will not mark the glass. After that, you wash the cream off under water in your sink and you can reuse your stencil again by rinsing that off as well.
Place your glass in the dishwasher to sanitize it and then it is ready to be filled with your fresh baked cookies! It looks gorgeous– and it’s simple! Your Friends and Family will be happy with this gorgeous and thoughtful gift for the holidays. Enjoy!
**When you apply the cream you do have to wear protective gloves so as to not irritate your skin.
Michele, Creator of Bella Home Goods is a wife, mother, blogger, crafter, and decorator. At Bella Home Goods, she shares recipes, ways to up-cycle furniture, and how her home is getting a makeover.
so adorable! I never knew the etched glass was that easy – I feel silly for not having tried it sooner! Thanks for the tip! What a great teacher gift!