I have a little thing for Mason jars.  Beyond their obvious use for canning, I love Mason jars for storing leftovers, dry goods in my pantry, giving soup to a sick friend, and even to store things like clothes pins.

They are also the perfect package for a Christmas gift- pretty, useful and best of all reusable.

Today two of my dear friends and I got together to make gifts for the staff and teachers at our school- over 70 jars of hot cocoa.  They not only turned out very fun and festive, they were also pretty easy and not too messy to make, especially with the help of our wide-mouth canning funnels.

We used this recipe from Sunset Magazine, but it is almost exactly the same recipe from my Great Grandmother Platts.

Rather than mixing it all up, we layered ingredients like the jars from Sunset magazine.

They were so easy and pretty, I’m planning on making a few more batches for neighbor and friend gifts.

And for more inspiration, here are a few other gift ideas in a Mason jar, that I’ve made in the past:

This hot fudge recipe is divine…..

I’ve made batches of these Cookies in a Jar for Santa every year for the past few years.  They make a perfect, useful, delicious gift.

I also love that all these gifts can be made now… and given in December.

It’s going to be a busy day as I get ready to host Thanksgiving at our home again this year.

I’ve got to finish grocery shopping, clean my home, and make last plans for table settings etc.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving over the past few weeks.

Did you know the first official Thanksgiving in the United States was established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, during the Civil War?

It’s amazing that during our Nation’s darkest hour, we chose to give thanks.  That is something I’ve thought a lot about this month…

The other thing I’ve been thinking about over the last few days is food…. really wonderful food.

As I looked up my recipes to make my grocery list, I realized I’ve shared many of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes here.

Here is a compilation of all the Thanksgiving recipes I’ve shared:

Our favorite appetizer: Stuffed Mushrooms

I love making homemade crescent rolls with my kids.

I’m hungry just thinking about these green beans.  They are so easy and good…

Kit’s Amazing and wonderful Cranberry Sauce.

Last year I shared our favorite gravy recipe and tips.

This one is from my childhood, and I still love it: Broccoli Casserole

Don’t miss my husband wonderful turkey recipe and lots of good advice.

And last but not least, pie:

I’ve written more than one post about pie, it’s one of my favorite desserts after all.  Here are my favorite pie tips and links to the recipes I’ve shared over the past few years.

My girls and I can hardly wait to make pie together for Thanksgiving.