Thanksgiving Mason Jar Gift Idea

‘Tis the season to be grateful. Today I’m sharing with you a simple gift Thanksgiving idea, these Thanksgiving Pilgrim Mason Jars.  If you like this project you may also like this DIY Thanksgiving Family Memory Banner. 

Let me tell you a story…..

A few years ago I was lying in bed trying to sleep, but my brain would just not turn off.  I don’t know about you but it seems that most of my good ideas come just as I’m about to nod off for the night.  Christmas was in a few weeks and I still needed something to give to my kids teachers.  This was before I had 3 teenagers and teacher gifts were a BIG deal.   For some reason I got a silly idea to make a mason jar look like Santa Claus.  I don’t even remember how I came up with that idea, it just “popped in” to my head that night.  The next day I bought a box of mason jars, some licorice and black ribbon and made a Santa Claus Mason Jar.  I gifted the jars to my kids teachers that year with a gift card attached to the tag.

I thought “hey I should post this on my blog”, but then thought “no, people will think it’s stupid”.  In the end I decided to post it thinking that there may also be Moms like me, who were stuck for simple Christmas gift ideas.

Well let me tell you something, people liked it.  It was NUTS. I was surprised. I made a Snowman and and Elf to go with Santa, and at last count those mason jars have been pinned over 900K times. Yep, crazy especially for a project that I wasn’t sure if anyone would even like.

Which brings me to today… While lying in bed a few weeks ago I thought “I should make a Pilgrim mason jar”.  So I did!  I ended up making two versions of the jar, a “he” and a “she” pilgrim. I also made one more Christmas mason jar which I’ll share with you next week.  

If you’re looking for a simple Thanksgiving gift for a teacher, a friend, a neighbor or a hostess, then maybe these mason jars are what you’ve been looking for.

As with the Christmas Jars, I’ve included a tag for you to download to go with the jar. Just hop on over to the TEMPLATES page to get it.

Okay, to make the jars you’re going to need, click for sources (affiliate links):

• Mason Jars, you can use “smooth” or regular but I recommend not getting the wide mouth jars.
• Black 1″ ribbon
• Gold Cardstock
• Black Candy such as Licorice, Gumballs,  Jelly Beans or Lindor Truffles in black wrappers (you can also use something totally different, it’s up to you)
• Paper Trimmer
• Exacto Knife/Cutting Mat
• Hot Glue Gun
• White Felt
• Template for pilgrim apron & collars
• Printable Tags
• Tags (note: these tags print on Avery tags, they are pre-perforated, you just print, and punch out, NO cutting!)
• Gold Twine
• Two Small Black buttons for Girl Pilgrim

Step one, Print and cut out the felt pattern pieces and trace onto the felt. Cut out.

Step two, make the buckle:

Cut a 1 ½″ x 1 ½″ piece from your gold cardstock. I love to use this Fiskars trimmer because it has a wire guide that helps me know exactly where I am cutting.

Next, using your exacto knife and a cutting mat cut two slits in the square each 1″ long and ¼″ in from the edge.

Feed the black ribbon through the buckle.

Hot glue the collars and apron onto the mason jar

Add the buttons to the girl pilgrim

Using the twine attach the “Give Thanks” tag.

Gift away!!

To see all of my other Mason Jar Gift Ideas just CLICK HERE