DIY Holiday Gifts for Teachers - Snowman Mason Jar

It's almost that time of year again. Soon the kiddies will be off from school on winter recess and you will have to bake 30 cupcakes for the classroom holiday party. It's common for parents to want to give their child's teacher a little gift during this time for a little season's greetings. But what do you get them? They are an important part of your child's everyday life, but you don't know them well enough to buy them something personal and expensive. So what do you do? No worries. We have created a simple DIY holiday gift for your kid's teachers.

Materials

• Mason Jars (1 per teacher)
• Black Linen Paper
• Strathmore Ivory Laid Paper
• Red Kraft Twine
• Gift Tag With String
• White Shred Tissue Paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Pen/Colored Pencils
• Quarter and Penny
• Candy/Goodies

Creating the Snowman's Buttons

To create the snowman's buttons we used the black linen paper, Strathmore ivory laid paper, the quarter and the penny. First take the quarter and trace out 6 circles on the black linen paper (this will be enough for 3 snowmen with 2 buttons each). Cut out the 6 circles with your scissors. You can even lay the quarter flat on the paper and trim around the quarter to give a cleaner edge. Do the same thing with the penny and the ivory laid paper. Once you have all 12 circles cut out, it's time to attach them. Lay an ivory colored circle on top of a black linen circle. Attach with a small amount of glue. Once the glue dries, use your pen or colored pencil to draw 4 little dots to resemble a button.

Attach to the mason jar with glue.

Creating the Snowman's Face

Snowman Eyes To create the snowman's face you will need the remaining ivory laid paper and the lid of the mason jar. Trace out three circles using the seal of the mason jar and cut out. Again, you can lay the metal seal flat on the paper and cut around it to give a clean circle. Once that is done, take the remaining black linen paper and cut out 6 small circles. These are going to be the coal eyes, so they should be about the size of a pencil eraser. Don't worry about making perfect circles since lumps of coal tend to be uneven. Once these are cut out, attached to the pre-cut ivory laid circle with a small amout of glue. Mouth & Nose To create the mouth, simply take a black pen or colored pencil and draw 6 small circles in the shape of a smile. We took an orange colored pencil to draw in the snowman's carrot nose. Once the snowman's face is complete, place on top of the metal seal and attache the mason jar lid.

Adding the Finishing Touches

Snowman Body Take a handful of your white shred tissue paper and fill the bottom of the mason jar about a quarter of the way. Next stuff with candy and goodies. We used classic peppermints and chocolate mints to fit with the season color scheme. Attaching the Scarf  & Tag Create the gift's personalized tag by using one of our blank white gift tags and your pen. For added cuteness, have your kid write out the to and from. To create the snowman's bright red scarf, we took about a foot of our red kraft twine and folded it in half twice. Loop the gift tag onto the twine and wrap around the neck of the mason jar. Secure by tying a bow and trim off any extra twine.

That's it!  A simple way to transform a mason jar into a personalized holiday gift for your kids teacher. Once they finish the candy inside, they can reuse the mason jar as a festive pencil holder for their desk.