DIY Christmas jars

Got old jars lurking at the back of the cupboard? Transform them into fun gifts or a treat for Santa with these Christmas jars!

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Published: November 29, 2021 at 6:20 am

Make these quick and easy Christmas jars to liven up your kitchen this festive season. Make these Christmas jars with your little ones, then fill them with Santa's favourite snack. Leave your Christmas jars out on Christmas Eve for Santa and his helpers to take a well-earned rest! Decorate with whatever papers, felt or fabric you have available, then finish with a ribbon and a gift tag.

DIY Christmas Jars - portrait

Check out our other upcycling projects for more inspiration, we love these upcycled jam jars, or why not boost your stash by downloading some of our free papers, we have lots of stunning Christmas printables to choose from! If you’re in a crafty mood, why not check out the best glue gun and best die-cutting machine. Thinking about buying a craft printer? Check out our review of the best printer for card making.

We love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to share your upcycling or craft projects with us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, too!

You will need:

  • Jam jars
  • Coloured paper
  • Glitter paper
  • Ribbon
  • Acrylic paint
  • Felt
  • Baker's twine

How to make Christmas jars

DIY Christmas Jars - Santa Jar

1. Cookie pot

Be the Santa of your street when you treat your neighbours to delicious home-baked biscuits, presented in this fun, festive cookie jar!

  1. Attach an 80mm wide strip of red paper around the middle of a 1lb jam jar. Cut a 30mm wide strip of black paper for the belt.
  2. Draw two 13x30mm rectangles inside a 40mm square of gold glitter, leaving a 5mm border around the edges and middle; cut out to make a buckle. Thread belt through buckle, then attach it to the jar.
  3. Paint jar lid gold and leave to dry. Punch or cut a circle from red glitter paper and glue to the top.
  4. Stick red paper to white card, stamp tag on it and cut out. Use the moustache template to cut a moustache from white paper, stamp ‘believe’ on it and add to tag. Thread a wooden tag, then the moustache tag onto the ribbon and tie around the top of the jar.
DIY Christmas Jars - Christmas recipe jar

2. Christmas recipe jar

Fill a beautifully decorated jar with mouth-watering gingerbread mix for the perfect present for a friend who loves to bake.

  1. Cut a 50mm wide strip of festive paper and attach it around the middle of a 2lb Tala jar. Glue two different ribbons around the top and bottom edges of the paper.
  2. Trace the lid of the jar onto a piece of red paper and cut it out. Draw a smaller circle onto festive paper and cut it out. Attach the festive circle to the red circle, then glue to the jar lid.
  3. Tie a small wooden spoon and gingerbread man cookie cutter to the jar using a length of ribbon, knot in place and finish with a neat bow.
  4. Punch a heart from some red glitter card and attach it to the middle of a scalloped round brown tag. Tie the tag to the top of the jar using a length of red and white baker’s twine, finishing with a bow.
DIY Christmas Jars - elf jar

3. Sweetie stash

Our sweetie jar is also great for storing small toys in, and could be the ideal stocking filler for your own mischievous little elf!

Step 1

Attach a 50mm strip of green paper around the middle of a 1lb jam jar. Punch two buttons from white paper and attach them to the green strip. If you don’t have a button punch – use real buttons instead!

Step 2

Draw a 30mm deep zig-zag pattern onto a strip of red felt and cut out. Wrap around the neck of the jar and glue in place.

Step 3

Draw around half a saucer onto green glitter paper and cut out. Roll into a cone and glue the ends to hold in place. Paint the jar lid green, leave to dry, then glue a length of green ribbon around the edge. Attach the cone to the top of the lid, then attach some white pompoms around the bottom of the hat and a red pompom to the top, as shown.

Step 4

Cut, or punch a circle from brown card and stamp a design onto it using red ink – we’ve gone for a reindeer. Punch a hole in the top, thread with a length of green and white baker’s twine, then tie around the neck of the jar, finishing with a bow.

DIY Christmas Jars – all


We hoped you enjoyed these DIY Christmas jars projects! If you love mason jars as much as we do – we’ve rounded up all the best mason jar crafts, and we love these dinosaur storage jars!