The Gunny Sack

52 Things ~ A Year In A Jar {Handmade Gift}

This Gift In A Jar is filled with 52 Things making it A Year In A Jar. It’s a handmade gift idea for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Father’s Day or Mother’s Day.

52 Things A Year In A Jar Mason Gift

I love Valentine’s Day because I think it is a great reminder for us to really think about those we love.  But I don’t like that it lasts only 1 day…because love lasts the whole year!

So, that got me thinking of a way to keep us reminded of our love throughout the year.  Want to know what I am giving Brian for Valentine’s Day?  A year of reasons why I love him.  Yep, 52 reasons (I will refill it next year with more reasons).

I put them all in a jar and he is to open one a week.  Don’t you think these would be fun for a bride and groom to give each other as wedding gifts?

Or how about a shower gift that will become 52 Things from the first year of a babies life?  It would be like a Baby Book In A Jar!  Or what about giving a jar to your mom on Mother’s Day?

52 Reasons I Love You Mason Jar Gift

They are easy and super cheap to make.  Cut out 52 rectangles of kraft paper (I picked mine up at the dollar store) about 2 inches by 4 inches each.

If you are giving this as a gift for someone else to complete such as a bride-to-be or new mother, put the kraft paper, baker’s twine and a couple of colored pencils in a glass mason jar.  Be sure to add instructions as to what is to be done with the gift!

Valentines Day Gift Idea

If you are the one giving the gift, fill out 52 things on the pieces of kraft paper.  Mine are 52 Things I Love About You.  Yours could be 52 memories or 52 wishes or whatever you want!

Mason Jar Gift Idea

Cut 52 – 6 inch pieces of baker’s twine.  Roll up each piece of kraft paper.  I rolled mine around the colored pencil I used for writing.  Tie a piece of baker’s twine around each roll.

Gift In A Jar Handmade

Randomly toss the rolled up notes into the mason jar and put the lid on.  I wound some additional baker’s twine around the mason jar and added a tag that says 52.

So, what kind of 52 Things jar are you going to make?

52 Reasons I Miss You
52 Memories of Us
52 Ways You Are A Great Friend
First 52 Weeks of Your Life
52 Reasons You Are A Fantastic Kid
52 Things To Photograph
52 Ways You Are The World’s BEST Mother/Father
52 Things To do This Year
52 Date Ideas

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Some of you have be complaining 😉 about not being able to think of 52 things so I am going to give you some ideas/topics for the “52 Reasons I Love You” jar to get you started: {I’m keeping it G Rated}

Personality Traits You Love: Sense of humor, Outgoing, Quiet, People Person, Reserved, Helpful, Thoughtful, Cooperative, Stable, Impulsive, Organized, Disciplined, Random, Spontaneous, Unique, Sympathetic, Resourceful, Committed, Loving, Sociable, Talkative, Positive, Sarcastic, Curious, Adventurous, Emotional, Energetic, Calm, Laid Back, Focused, Driven, Unconventional, Straightforward, Subtle, Enthusiastic, Honest, Decent, Trustworthy, Generous, Supportive

Physical Traits You Love {Color, Texture, Size, Etc}:  Eyes, Hair, Lips, Smile, Eyelashes, Hands, Fingers, Legs, Feet, Ears, Height, Petite, Muscles, Shoulders, Skin, Scar, Mole

I Love The Way You _____:  Play With Our Kids, Make Breakfast In Bed, Kiss Me Goodbye, Get Up With The Kids In The Night, Kiss Me Hello, Remember My Birthday, Complete My Sentences, Know What I Am Thinking, Laugh, Sneeze, Care About Your Health, Love To Learn, Make Me Laugh

You Are An Awesome ______:  Person, Husband, Wife, Mother, Father, Son, Daughter, Brother, Sister, Lover,  Leader, Cook, Photographer, Provider, Artist, Singer, Friend, Uncle, Aunt, Mechanic,Techie, Runner, Teacher, Listener

You Are My _____:  Best Friend, One and Only, Sunshine, Anchor, Helpmate, Forever and Always, Favorite, World, Bliss, Strength, Comfort, Star, Soul Mate, One in 6 Billion, Everything, Happy, Home, Family, Nest, Buddy, Number One, Inspiration, Match, High, Type, Heart, Dream Come True

You Are _____:  Beautiful, Handsome, Gorgeous, Pretty, Special, Kind, Important, You, Mine, Amazing, Larger Than Life, Fascinating, Loved, Fabulous, Fantastic, Adored, Brave, Breathtaking, Incredible, The Wind Beneath My Wings, Always On My Mind, Everything I Ever Dreamed Of, A Miracle, A God Send, A Gift, The Icing On My Cake, Cream In My Coffee

Here are a few more Gift In A Jar ideas to love:

Gift In A JarDate In A JarBank Of Love Baby GiftImage Map

Comments

  1. nicola says

    July 18, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    I am inspired by the’in a jar’ concept. I am going to do it for ‘a year in a jar” clever clever clever….totally love it

    Reply

  3. Jessica says

    May 9, 2015 at 10:52 am

    I love this idea. I am making a “52 weeks of positive thoughts and actions” jar. I’m making it for a friend who is going through a lot of stress right now. I used color paper for the notes in her favorite sports teams colors and I’m going to paint their logo on the jar for her. Thanks for giving an idea to run with!

    Reply

  4. Robert says

    February 13, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    This idea has caused me a great deal of stress in the last week. My fiance’ tasked me with doing this for her and has told me that it better be from the heart. All she has talked about in the week since tasking me is how much she is looking forward to what I have done. I can think of 52 reasons why I should not do this, I hate this!

    Reply

    • Sherry says

      December 8, 2016 at 12:08 am

      Robert,
      What a shame to be “forced” to do this. If you really care about her it should not be hard to think of 52 wonderful things you love about her, or 52 things to do on a date her. But it should have been something YOU wanted to do, not forced. Makes things feel a bit different or even “scary” that you won’t say 52 things SHE would want to hear from you. I will bet its safe to say you are not with her anymore?? LOL

      Reply

  5. Denny says

    February 13, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    I just made this for my husband. I did: Fun Things for Us to Do Together, Things I love about you, Silly Things We Like, and Fun Memories of Us Together – 12-14 of each for 52 total. I color-coded each category.

    Reply

  7. Sheena says

    January 12, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    Great idea and I decided to do “52 things I love about you” thinking that I would have to really commit to thinking hard about things to say. Well once I began, I was on a roll and within half an hour had more than 52 things to say to my hubby of 32 years of marriage.

    Tonia, thank you, this is an awesome project, simple but I think even my unromantic husband is going to get a kick out of this!!!

    Light, love and peace
    Sheena
    South Africa

    Reply

  8. Sarah says

    December 21, 2014 at 9:22 pm

    Could you please give some ideas for 52 things a year for busy parents ? I love this idea, it will be an awesome christmas present !

    Reply

  9. Geri says

    December 15, 2014 at 11:23 pm

    Exactly what I was looking for. I’m going to do this and send to my best friends and close cousins. Thanks for sharing! I really love your website 🙂

    Reply

  10. Jill says

    November 22, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    This is great! I am doing the 52 Reasons You Are a Great Kid for my daughter. She is a 10 yr old 5th grader and going through a rough time with puberty and being a girl-this is just what she needs. She loves when I put little notes in her lunchbox or sneak in her backpack. She also hates Mondays-so this will most definitely put a smile on her face!

    Reply

  11. Becca says

    November 18, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    I think I’m going to do this for a year’s worth of simple dates, 52 date ideas for my fiance and myself, things like go out for coffee, or have an at home movie night. I think I’ll start it on the just after the new year. This can be used for so many things 🙂

    Reply

    • Tonia says

      September 23, 2014 at 11:01 pm

      Thanks Sally! A 21 year old is just starting out on living their own life. I would fill the jar with things that either look forward or things that look back. Here’s a few ideas:
      52 Memories (ie When you were 5, you fell asleep in the dentist’s chair.)
      52 Things I Hope For You (ie My wish for you is that life becomes all you want it to be.)
      52 Lessons For Life (ie Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.)
      52 Simple Life Hacks (ie Keep cookies fresh by storing them with fresh bread.)

      Reply

  13. Michelle says

    August 11, 2014 at 10:01 am

    i amdoing this right now for my best friend for her birthday. I just did 52 memories of us. it was so much fun to relieve the happy and sometimes sad moments of out 40 plus years of friendship.

    Reply

    • Tonia says

      August 12, 2014 at 8:36 am

      That is so sweet, Michelle! Your friend is going to be touched. I am going to have to do this for my friends too!

      Reply

  14. Sonja says

    December 17, 2013 at 10:27 am

    I’m making one right this moment. I’m 21 years old and making “52 Memories of us” for my 20 year old sister 🙂 I’m Finnish by the way, I love how versatile your website is and doesn’t require a crafter to live in a certain country to have the necessary items available.

    I’ve had such a blast reading old diaries, talking to my parents and grandparents about us.
    Such a great idea, a gift can’t get any more personal than this!

    Reply

    • Tonia says

      December 17, 2013 at 1:15 pm

      Oh Sonja! That is so precious. She is going to love it. Even though my husband finished unwrapping all of his notes, he still has the jar with all of the notes on his dresser in our bedroom. He really appreciated it even though I never did end up refilling the jar. And btw, I am 75% Finnish! 🙂

      Reply

    • Tonia says

      June 12, 2013 at 10:05 am

      I know what you mean! My husband dutifully opened one a week for a year and it made him happy every week! I need to make another jar for him!

      Reply

  24. Aimee - ItsOverflowing.com says

    February 22, 2012 at 4:45 am

    Oh my goodness…What an AWESOME Idea Tonia…SUPER SWEET! Thanks for sharing at Overflowing with Creativity! I can’t wait to see what you link up at my party tomorrow! I LOVE following you…you’re so inspiring! Just a little reminder, my giveaway for 1000 free FULL color business cards ends at midnight!! Stop by and enter to wiN!

    XO, Aimee

    Reply

  25. Lanetta says

    February 21, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    Thanks for all your suggestions to get the juices flowing!

    I created something like this for my parents for Christmas a few years ago. Both are over 80 and have everything they need/want, so it’s always a challenge to come up with something special for a Christmas gift. I wrote out 52 things I was grateful for, memories they each gave me, and gave them their own grateful jar! Because Christmas Day was on a Friday that year, the top of each jar had a label with the printing: “Momma’s Friday Dose of Gratefulness” or “Daddy’s Friday Dose of Gratefulness” !!!

    Because I live about 3 hours away, I don’t get to see them but once a month. We talk on the phone every day, but those Friday’s were priceless when they both would read to me what I had written and we talked about the memory.

    Thanks for the reminder! Love this idea and will create “kits” for an upcoming arts/crafts show I’m doing, just before Mother’s Day!

    Reply

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