Posted By FarmerJ on January 14, 2010

There is certainly one gene God left out of my DNA genetic makeup ~ the crafty and creative gene.  The attention to detail gene?  Got it.  The organization gene?  Probably concentrated.  The crafty and creative gene?  Nope.  It isn’t there.

So, when I can come up with something that has even the slightest tinge of creativity, I get all [probably overly] excited.  And, since this creativity occurs less frequently than a total solar eclipse, I thought I’d share my little project with you.

I made these spice jars and matching recipe cards for a friend ~ actually, Abigail’s Aunt D.  Aunt D is in the hospital after just having some major surgery and I thought it would be nice to give her a little pick-me-up and something to know I’ve been thinking about her and praying for her procedure and recovery.  Aunt D absolutely, thoroughly enjoys cooking, so I thought the spices would be a good fit.

I used five little glass jars I’ve had for a few years.  Before that, Mom had them for several years ~ and, before that, Grandma had them for umpteen years.  They are cute, rectangle-shape jars that once held Knott’s Berry Farm jellies.  It’s fine time these little jars got put back into service!

I mixed together some homemade spices using recipes I found on one of my favorite recipe sites ~ Razzle Dazzle Recipes.  I tried to pick spices I knew Aunt D could use in the dishes she likes making, but also chose a couple for her to ‘explore’ with.  [I'll have to follow up with her once she's back on her feet and cooking to see what kind of concoctions recipes she's able to create.]  These little jars were meant for this project ~ every recipe I made fit perfectly…none too little, none too much, every one just right.

Then, I made some cute little labels using one of my graphics programs ~ the version I have is so old, they don’t even offer it anymore.  I pieced together some various background images and overlaid a matching button in the corner just to give it a little more ‘country home’ feel.  At least that’s what that button says to me.  What does it say to you?  Heehee  Oh, I also printed five of the same buttons to place on the lid to cover up the Knott’s Farm logo.

When I so proudly showed Darling Husbie the fruit of my creative labor ~ remember, it doesn’t happen very often ~ the first thing he said was, “How is she going to know what to use this stuff in?”  Well, I’d already thought about that and had come to the conclusion I would create matching recipe cards to give with each of the spice jars.

I used the same graphics as the spice jars and printed them two-up on 4 x 6 index cards.  So, now each jar has its own card with either a recipe or suggested use typed on it.  I stacked all the cards in a pile and used my hole punch to make a hole in the center of the ‘country home’ button.  Then, I took a small piece of yellow raffia, fed it through the hole and tied a bow.  Viola!

So, that is the extent of my creativity.  Such a simple project, I know!  But, what do you think?  Do you think Abigail’s Aunt D will like these?

Categories: She ~Tries~ To Be Creative
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