Last week, I wrote about some of my favorite canning tools and the reasons they might just make good holiday gifts for the canners in your lives. This week I want to feature some of the odds and ends that aren’t canning necessities but make a jar-filled life a little bit prettier and more fun (of course, I intended to get this posted on Monday, but that knock-out flu I had has put me behind in my posting. So sorry!).
First on the list is Weck Jars. They’re good for canning, for dry goods storage, and if you spring for a set of snap-on plastic lids, they make fantastic leftover containers. Because they’re a bit pricier than your average box of jars, they’re an indulgence, but isn’t that what the holiday season is all about? Once hard to find, they’re now available for online order from the U.S. distributor, Kaufmann Mercantile and Mighty Nest, and in Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel stores.
For someone who has all their jar needs met, what about a pretty ladle? It’s good for filling your jars, scooping up servings of soup and chili and it looks fab sticking out of a crock of utensils. Available from Kaufmann Mercantile, it costs $32 and would be fun tucked in a stocking.
I love my stainless steel funnel
If I didn’t already have a stainless steel funnel, I might opt for this one
Drink toppers are another fun gift for jar lovers. I’ve written about these a lot lately, so I won’t go into crazy depth about them, but they’re great. There’s Cuppow, EcoJarz, and a lid specifically for iced coffee from the Mason Bar Company (they’ll also sell you a straw if you want a plastic one. I like these stainless steel babies
Once you turn your mason jar into a drinking cup, you need something to absorb the moisture and heat. That’s where a jar cozy or sleeve comes in. There are so many different Etsy shops making these. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Mason Bar Company (cute hand-crocheted cozies from the folks who sell the drink lids mentioned above).
- Greyslater (sleek waxed canvas sleeves).
- Fine + Dandy Knits (hand-knit cozies made from organic cotton, pattern is available).
- One Robin Road (charming cozies made from recycled sweaters. No two are alike).
- Cadron Creations (hand-crocheted cozies made to fit a variety of sizes, including the newly reissued pint & half jars).
- Two Tired Bike (mason jar sleeves made from recycled bike inner tubes. Great for jar lovers who adore their two wheeled transportation).
- Hide and True (hand-stitched leather sleeves. Spendy, but gorgeous).
- The Stowe (another leather sleeve, this time with a built-in handle).
Finally, the ultimate gift for jar loves is the Jars to Go tote from A Tiny Forest. Since I first wrote about the original two-jar bag, Kim has expanded the offerings in her shop to include a four-jar bag and single sleeves that fasten up over the top of the jar (perfect for packaging up super-special gift jars).
And since no gift guide is complete without a giveaway, here’s what I have for you today. There are two giveaway packs and we’ll have two winners. The first is from Kaufmann Mercantile and consists of a six-pack of 1/4 L straight-side Weck Jars and that lovely white enamel ladle pictured above. The second is a four-jar Jars to Go tote from A Tiny Forest in Kim’s signature blue-striped fabric (like this one).
Here’s how to get in on the giveaway:
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your favorite edible or culinary stocking stuffer (my favorite edible stocking stuffer is Pocky and my favorite culinary stocking stuffer is this little microplane nutmeg grater)
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- Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday.
- Giveaway open US residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post. I cannot accept submissions via email.
Disclosure: Kaufmann Mercantile sent me the ladle seen above for photography purposes. Kaufmann Mercantile and A Tiny Forest have both provided the giveaway items at no cost to me. No vendor mentioned above paid for placement.
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Hmmm… Orange is definitely on the stocking list, as for fav culinary stuffer I would have to say Garlic press, they’re just so useful!
My husband and I were both raised by “granola parents” so sesame-seed candies, Panda licorice, and the classic orange still make an appearance in the stockings. (We draw the line at carob-pretending-to-be-chocolate, though.)
My favorite edible stocking stuffer is probably both clementines (love this tradition!) and candy canes. We always had both in our stockings when I was young and they still make an appearance to this day! Thanks so much for the chance to win!
My mom always put clementines in our stockings; it’s a nice reminder of a time when getting citrus was a once a year treat. Also, you need something to cut through all the refined sugar on Christmas!
My favorite culinary stocking stuffer is a wine stopper, as you can never have enough!
I love clementines for edible stocking stuffers. Delicious, great smelling, and in season! A great cooking stuffer would be a rainbow wood spoon. So bright and beautiful!
chocolate!
Bacon! I love getting a pound of apple smoked bacon in my stocking. Thanks for the giveaway.
Snack-size be-ribboned bags of homemade granola!
Chocolate, for sure! Thanks for the giveaway!
Chocolate oranges!
Tangerines and nuts in the bottom of the stocking and maybe some chocolate too.
I love to put fruit in stockings. My mom tells me stories about how wonderful it was to receive citrus fruit in her stocking in the middle of winter, so I like to carry on that tradition.
My favorite stocking stuffer is reeses Christmas trees or snickers nutcracker. My favorite culinary stocking stuffer is my herb infuser from pampered chef.
My favorite culinary stocking stuffer is my Microplane zester!!
Chocolate oranges or chocolate coins, real mandarin oranges or small hard Granny Smith apples; these are frequent stocking stuffers in our households.
We also have the tradition of office supplies in our stockings. Some people find this odd, but who can’t use a new pack of pens or pencils or mini Post-Its? The only culinary stocking stuffer I can recall giving was beautiful chopsticks.
Stockings are the best for small culinary and cooking items. I too like the mini zester for nutmeg (though I just use my large one) because it’s so cute. For years my sister put “egg whiskies” in my stocking and I really loved their size and the way the egg-shaped handle fit in the palm of my hand. But the egg handles always seemed to come off, so we have stopped replacing them.
I’m so new to canning, food gifts, the kitchen, I don’t have a favorite. But I do remember my very first “kitchen” item in my stocking…a potato scrubber, shaped like a potato. Seems like such a small thing, but it was so thoughtful of a friend’s mother to put it in my stocking when I was a young adult. I still have and use it!
candy canes! Not fancy, but festive and always wanted in my family.
I adore measuring spoons (mine keep disappearing for some reason) and colorful spatulas. I can never have too many.
Stocking stuffer! Homemade salted caramels, yum!
Two years ago my youngest son (2nd grade at the time) learned that stockings in Europe are filled with fruit (I’ve always put socks and underwear in them), and wrote a scathing email to Santa that he was owed 8 years worth of fruit! So I dutifully picked out unusual fruits that we don’t normally get- blood oranges, asian pears, finger sized bananas and the like. He was so excited when he got to his stocking and he announced “Next year I’m asking for Nachos!”. (last year, he got a bag of chips, salsa and a can of refried beans in his stocking).
My favourite edible stocking stuffer is always the orange that comes in the toe of my stocking. I think it’s an English tradition to put an orange in. My family have expanded the tradition to include a dime (so you’ll always have money in the new year) and a piece of chocolate.
My son loves beef jerky and my girls like Moose Munch. My friends like spiced nuts which work out great in jars.
There always seems to be a package of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds in each stocking. Santa knows us well.
Sees cinammon lollipops, available only at the holidays and my favorite stocking stuffers or tie ons for the bows on packages.
Terry’s smash apart chocolate oranges!
tiny 4 oz jars of homemade apple pie jam!
Toblerone is my favorite treat! I think I got some good spatula’s one year, too!.
favorite food stocking stuffers are satsumas, nuts and chocolate coins.
I didn’t grow up with stockings so I have always loaded down my kids stocking until they spill over! An orange and a pair of socks fill the toe and then I like to put gum, Pocky sticks and local made chocolates for treats. Always a new toothbrush and as they got older fun little kitchen gadgets, last year it was homemade scrubbies and crocheted dish clothes. I think the stockings are what they enjoy most! Thanks for the chance to win some great prizes!
My favorite stocking stuffers are little fun kitchen gadgets (that I’ll actually use). For example: a fun set of stainless steel measuring spoons or some fun little serving spoons or stainless steel straws.
my favorite would have to be dark chocolate bars, with or without nuts and other tasty add-ins, the best quality you can afford!
My favorite edible stocking stuffer is one of those chocolate oranges. So good…
My favorite edible stocking stuffer would be a good chocolate. The favorite culinary stocking stuffer would have to be Pampered Chef’s mini server! http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=16763&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat=
satsumas and cookie cutters…
My favorite edible stocking stuffer is Taza chocolate covered cacao nibs.
Dark chocolate…the absolute best edible stocking stuffer! As for a non-edible stocking stuffer, I think an instant-read thermometer, good-quality measuring spoons, or refrigerator magnets are all good choices.
I struggle w stockings because it is my favorite part of christmas and so i want to get each person the exact fun things that suit them. So figuring that out is hard. No one favorite stuffer….
My favorite edible stocking stuffer is…….the humble orange. But if I had to jazz it up, I’d say a microplaner too, or maybe some nicely packaged biscotti.
Handmade candy! A family tradition, each house makes a different type. Chocolate, taffy or carmel and we load each others stockings! Yumm
My favorite edible stocking stuffer is a giant peppermint stick. I don’t particularly like them but that’s what my grandparents put in our stockings when I was a kid so it has all the nostalgia attached to it.
My favorite stocking stuffer–well, I’ve never stuffed a stocking, since I don’t celebrate Christmas. But if I did, I’d probably say chocolate-covered espresso beans!
My favorite edible stocking stuffer is little jars of cinnamon-sugar crusted nuts! Any kind of mix will do, but I love the little sparkle they give, and I love idea of someone getting to hold onto a jar after the nuts are gone — even if I’m the only one who gets excited about that — I still have my toothbrush sitting neatly in a jar beautifully labeled “nuts” from the first time someone gave me Christmas-y nuts and I kept the jar!
I’d love one of those microplanes you mentioned! But my favorite to give is my homemade caramel corn. It is so good that I once got an account because the teacher I gave it to gave it to his kid and later the kid told his dad to call me so he could have it again the next year! Funny, but it is amazing
I love the chocolate oranges!
It’s not Christmas morning in my house unless there are Clementines in the stockings. And I’m pretty sure all my relatives have Microplanes now, as they are undoubtedly my favorite kitchen tool to give away.
Homemade Carmels
and any little kitchen gadget
They were too big to fit into a stocking but my mom would always give us our favorite box of cereal for Christmas.
I love getting truffle oil or truffle salts in my stocking. Hint, hint, Santa.
My favorite would be a box of really fine, very expensive, hand-crafted chocolates. That would do just fine.
My favorite stocking stuffers are pomegranates, nuts and Hershey kisses.