Patriotic Jars (and Pretzel Treats!)

Holidays can be busy – even the warm weather holidays when we’re supposed to be enjoying the lazy days of summer. So if I’m going to be crafting around any holiday, I like to keep things simple and easy.

For the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, I made a couple little decorative patriotic jars for that fit the bill perfectly. They were quick, simple, and inexpensive too. I used my very frugal homemade mod podge, some inexpensive napkins, and the rest of the supplies came from the dollar store, or I already had them on hand.

To make these jars, I mod podged a napkin to the back of the jar, so that the decorative pattern would show through. The napkins needed to be cut down just a bit to a size that covered just the back half of the jar.  The two little jars I used came from the dollar store, but you could use mason jars or recycled food jars too.

Once the napkin had been mod podged onto the jar and dried, I put on the finishing touches. I filled the bottom of each jar with a little Epsom salt (from the dollar store) and put a little battery operated “candle” in each one (also found at the dollar store). I then wound some decorative bakers twine that I had in my stash around the top. And that’s it!  Pretty simple and easy.

And then I made another batch of one of my favorite treats that can be customized in the colors for any holiday – Pretzel M&M treats!  These treats are soooo simple and easy to make. You’ll actually spend the most time unwrapping the Hershey Hugs candies. They also bake for only a few minutes at a very low 170 degrees so it won’t heat up your house in the summer either.

You can find the complete recipe on my post about making red and green M&M Pretzel Treats for the Christmas holiday, but here’s summary of how to make them.

Begin by putting some waxed paper on a cookie sheet.  Then lay out your pretzels (either rings or waffles) on the waxed paper, and put a Hershey Hug in the middle of each one (or on top of the pretzel if using the waffle shape). Bake in a 170 degree oven for 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and quickly press an M&M in the middle of each one. Then put them in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to cool and harden the rest of the way.

I suppose if these treats would sit out in the sun too long, they might start to get melty, but they usually disappear so fast, it’s not much of a problem. Happy 4th of July!