10 Frugal Gift in a Jar Ideas

As a frugal family we are always looking for ways to cut cost but still be able to give a little to our loved ones. 

Our journey to be more frugal started 5 years ago. We decided directly after having Brooklyn that working full time, coming home exhausted and being harassed at both of our jobs over doctors appointments for our baby girl wasn't going to work for us as new parents. So we started trying out new ways to cut cost and save money. A year later, after losing my mom, and putting Brooklyn in daycare at 11 months old, I told Kevin we needed to come up with a way for me to stay home with her and fast because I struggled badly with her being with strangers. That's when we decided to open our candle and gift company. 

Over the years I have researched ideas to be more frugal and brought lists to Kevin. We would discuss them and then chose the next idea to try out. We have tested so many ideas from couponing to making our own cleaning products. Recently, when we saw and felt how bad inflation had hit us through both our business and home life we said, okay it's time to start cutting back again and in new areas. We had already been discussing how to approach holidays and what we can do to make them easier. Gift giving is a part of our daily lifes as we are ALL gift givers. We give gifts at every opportunity that we can because gift giving (and giving in general) makes all 3 of our hearts happy. 

This year we are only giving homemade gifts to family and friends. 

My personal thoughts about gift giving are that gifts should be something that will without a doubt be used, and if it is a necessity, even better! 

If you are anything like me, a crafter, then making things with your hands always feels good to you. I am also obsessed with mason jars and how they can be used for literally ANYTHING. They are usually very affordable and you can find them everywhere. 

Here is a list of our top 10 favorite frugal gift in a jar ideas. We are making a handful of these ourselves as gifts to give away. 

1. Meals in a jar. If you aren't sure of what this is, you haven't been on Pintrest lately. You can search pintrest, google, yahoo, or any other search engine for the best meal in a jar recipes. My favorite idea, and one I will be making is diy dry hamburger helper mixes. This one is so cool because I know how busy our family and friends get. Hamburger helper use to be one of our favorite quick meals during the week. Since we loved it so much we started looking into homemade versions to cut back on salt, perservatives, and cost. I love the idea of giving meals to families as gifts. The options are endless, from pancake mix to dry seasoning mixes. 

2. Hot Chocolate in a jar. I grew up on Mexican hot chocolate and absolutely love it. Hot chocolate is a frugal yet fun activity to do as a family. Throw in your hot chocolate mix and any fixings you love, then tie on a gift tag to gift it away.

3. Empty jars with blank labels. This gift is cool because the options are endless. If you don't know, mason jars or any glass jar and lid, come in different shapes, sizes, and designs. You can hand or spray paint them, deck them out in glitter, tye some jute string and dried flowers to them or leave them as is. Put a chalk board label on them and give them away as gifts. This is a great gift for anyone who wants to get more organized in the new year. 

4. Snacks and desserts in a jar. This one covers a lot. We've cut costs on desserts and snacks by mixing a few purchased ones with some homemade ones. One of our favorite homemade treats are cookies. Everyone adds what we want to a cookie mix that I make and then we all bake our own cookies. Other ideas for this jar can be popcorn kernals and any toppings, brownie mix, a jar of chocolates, trail mix, cake mix, carmel apples in a jar, the list goes on. 

5. Savings Jar. I have made these for ourselves and others. They are simple and a great way to encourage other's to save for a rainy day. Simply add stickers, labels or anything else to an empty jar and gift it as a savings jar. 

6. Arts & crafts in a jar. Since we adore arts and crafts, this one was a no brainer for us. We love being able to go to the dollar store and grab color pencils, markers, and coloring books. We took that idea and have put them into jars as gifts. 

7. Potpourri in a jar. It is officially stove top potpourri season. I also love a gorgeous bowl of seasonal potpourri in our living room. Potpourri is a great way to make your home smell nice. You can keep it and refresh it with your favorite fragrance and essential oils. 

8. Homemade laundry soap in a jar. I have been making our own laundry soap for a couple years now. We have also gifted it as a set with a wool laundry ball and bottle of essential oil. Who doesn't need laundry soap?

9. Plant starter kit in a jar. This idea came from a Mother's Day gift that we made a couple years ago. The jars included a pretty bag of planting soil and a handful of butterfly shaped seed papers. It was such a hit. You can also purchase envelopes of seeds and bulbs to use for this gift. We loved the seed papers and so did our customers. 

10. Family Fun Night in a jar. We have an on going notebook that holds our scores and such for the game Uno. We love Uno and Brooklyn caught onto it quickly. We often gift a game of Uno to friends. This jar can include any card game, snacks like mini chocolate bars, a bag of unpopped popcorn, a mini notebook, pen, etc. This is such a fun jar to make!

There are hundreds of frugal gift in a jar options. These are our favorites. We would love for you guys to share some that you have made with us. Please also share if you plan to try of the ones we have listed, or something different you want to try. Please leave us a comment!

Lots of Love, The Normans!