DIY Christmas-Homemade Infused Olive Oils

Last up in the series for DIY Christmas this year is homemade infused olive oils.  I did both garlic chili and rosemary olive oils.  It was a lot of fun and super easy. I mean I hope people think I slaved over a hot stove all day long making these beauties :)

First thing I want to tell you about is the potential for food poisoning....yeah, hate to be a buzzkill but the threat is real so make sure you really take the time to adhere to these guidelines prior to making these.  Any time a fresh ingredient is introduced in to a dish, there is the possibility of it causing more harm then good.  Thus the reason I did not do just fresh garlic infused oils and have garlic cloves in the oil.  If not properly prepared, botulism is a risk.

Moisture brings mold so when making the rosemary infused olive oil, if you choose to buy fresh rosemary, make sure you wash it and let it dry for about a week.  You don't want to be able to bend the herb at all, you want it to the point where it is cracking when trying to bend it as that means all the moisture has been removed.

You can skip fresh rosemary all together and just use dried herbs, too.

For the rosemary olive oil, I sprinkled some dry herbs in my jar and then added the (fresh) dried herb for decoration.  I cooked my oil on the stove with some of the other dried rosemary sprigs for about five minutes and then drained the rosemary out.  Let cool for about five minutes and then add to your jar. You can use extra virgin if that is what you have lying around, but regular olive oil seems to infuse and take on the flavors better.

For the chili garlic oil, I smashed some fresh garlic and put it in a pot on the stove with my olive oil. I let it cook for about five minutes or until you can smell the garlic cooking.  You don't want to burn it so keep an eye on it while it is in the pot.

Then I sprinkled some crushed red pepper in the oil and let it cool for another five minutes.  I threw in a dried chili for decoration in the bottle and then poured the olive oil in the jar.  You can get a funnel but I just used my turkey baster to transfer the oil :)

Done!  I attached a note letting my giftees know to use within one week or keep in the fridge.  You can let them know the oil can be used in cooking, sauteing for example, or you can dip crusty, french bread in the oil and eat it that way.  You can use the chili oil with egg rolls or in stir fry.  You can use the rosemary oil with a chicken salad.  So many delicious options!!

And there ya have it! They look beautiful.  I got my jars from Hobby Lobby when they had all glass 50% off and I just tied a pretty tag on the jar with some twine for the rustic look.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!!

Enjoy!!

Have a great day!! xo

DIY Christmas-Homemade Mason Jar Cookie and Brownie Recipes

Everyone loves sweets for Christmas.  It's a time of indulgence.  I love to make gifts that can be dumped into a bowl with a few fresh ingredients.   Simple yet people know how much time and effort went into making them.

I am going to include three variations in this one post.  Remember if you are one of my loved ones I expect you to be happily surprised when you see them if you continue reading :)

Last year was my first year making these and I knew some changes had to made this year and I changed all the recipes as not to gift the same ones, too.  So round up your supplies first.  I save pasta jars all year long as I make these gifts for Easter and other holidays so they always get used.  But you can just buy mason jars or canning jars at the store, too.  I just take the labels off and clean them very well.  The same method that goes behind cleaning my old used candle jars for my vanity gets used here.  Slowly take the label off and then take equal parts baking soda and vegetable oil to make a paste and let it sit on the glue for about 10 minutes until you can wipe it off with a paper towel.  You can also use Goo Gone if you don't want to make your own :)

Last  year I tediously cut out scrapbook paper and glued it to each lid.....this made for a very long project but also I was told the lids were hard to get off since the modge podge had really stuck on there. So this year I got some scraps of Christmas fabric and once the goodies were in the jar I laid them on top and then tied them on with some string.

Let's get to the ingredients used to make these homemade cookie and brownie jars.

Recipe used from TheFrugalGirls.com

First one is Butterscotch Cake Cookies in a mason jar.  You just need a box of white or yellow cake mix and a bag of butterscotch chips (try not to eat them all while making these because it requires a lot of self control).

You might want to get a funnel (I just used a piece of paper) to get all of the ingredients in the jars.

Take the entire cake mix and pour it in the jar.  I use my pestle from my mortar and pestle to really pack them in so the entire box fits.

Yes that is a picture from the next recipe :)

Once your white cake mix is in your jar then take about a cup of butterscotch chips and add them to the top.  If there is more space in the jar then add more chips to it.  Done!

You can hand write your recipe card or print it out and attach it with a string to the jar.  I still have to do that part but I wanted to get this up here for ya'll :)  Oh, I also am attaching a Christmas spatula to each jar this year.

Directions:
Beat together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil.  Add contents of jar.  Stir well and form dough into a ball.  Let chill in the fridge for 15 minutes prior to baking.  Drop into rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until golden.  

Next recipe I literally had to pry the bags of Reese's away from my husbands hands :)

Chocolate Reese Cake Cookies in a mason jar.

You will need a box of chocolate cake mix and 1 1/3 cups of Reese's pieces.

Recipe used from TheFrugalGirls.com

Pour the cake mix in the jar and push it all the way down.  Add the Reese's pieces on top! Done!

Directions:
Beat together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil.  Add contents of jar.  Stir well and form dough into a ball.  Let chill in the fridge for 15 minutes prior to baking.  Drop into rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until golden. 

Last recipe is a big one and this one takes some time but it looks oh so pretty!  I recommend making more than one jar of this at a time since you will have all the ingredients out to make your life a little bit easier.

Christmas Fudgy Brownies in a mason jar....mmmmmm........

I will list out the ingredients in the order they should go in jar and this is an actual recipe so measurements are important in this one or else your giftee will think they did something wrong :)

1 cup and 2 tablespoons of flour
2/3 cup of brown sugar (packed)
2/3 cup of white sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup of cocoa
1/2 cup of your choice of sprinkles (or use more chocolate chips)
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

You will need to pack each layer down as you go to get the desired layered look but it is all worth it, it looks so nice!!

Directions:
Mix contents of jar with 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of water, 2/3 cup of vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour into a greased 9x9 baking pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

And there ya go!! I hope I covered it all and if you have any questions please let me know in the comments below!

Have fun with this and get creative in decorating them :)  These are always a huge hit.  People love the simplicity behind them and the fact that they don't have to do much.  If you have kids, this is also something they can help create with you as it really is a lot of fun.

Have a great day!! xo

DIY Christmas-Homemade Peppermint Sugar Body Scrub

The time has come where I am again a crafting fool making things to give as gifts this year.  I absolutely love making unique things for people all year round but Christmas is especially fun.  For the family members that read my blog, be warned, I expect you to be full of surprise in the event you receive any of the gifts that I post over the next week :)

This is probably the easiest gift I have ever made and I hope you all will try it, if not for a gift but for yourself.  This is an all natural exfoliating body or foot scrub, perfect for the dry winter months.  This can be made with any oil or scent you want, too.  I am going to use white sugar, olive oil and peppermint but you can swap the olive oil for coconut oil and the peppermint for vanilla.  You can swap the white sugar for brown sugar.  Add some lavender, add some lime juice.  This is easily customizable and lasts for up to 2 months.

First you want to pick the jars you are going to use.  Hobby Lobby had all glass 50% off so that is where I went.  I wanted cute jars but also ones that would be easy enough to get the product out. Next time I may go with plastic but I really couldn't find any that I liked.

Grab your ingredients.  I am going to be using about two and a half cups of sugar for these 6 jars.  Of course I didn't know that until I made them :) The olive oil I did not measure as you are going to make it to the consistency that you like.  And I had this peppermint oil in the cupboard, had I not I was going to use vanilla.

Pour your sugar into a large bowl and slowly start pouring your olive oil in.

I kept stopping to check the consistency until I got it where I wanted it to be.  Rub it through your fingers so you can feel it instead of only looking at it.

Once it was perfect, I added several drops of peppermint oil and mixed it really well.

It smells divine.

Then I scooped it into the jars.

Oh and I got these really festive labels that fit on them perfectly.

I, of course, did it the hard way and labeled my jars once the labels were on them.  To make it easier, write on them before hand :)

And there ya go! I mean super simple yet a perfect gift for anyone and everyone.  Especially people you just don't know what to get for.  My family loves my homemade gifts as they truly know I am taking the time to do something for them and that is what the holidays are all about.

I'd love to know if you try this recipe or have made your own homemade body scrubs before!

Let me know in the comments below and be sure to share your variations!

Have a great day!! xo