Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Christmas Jars!

After reading the book,
"Christmas Jars"

I decided
that I wanted to take the opportunity with
my family
to give as the Savior did.
I wanted my boys to have a selfless Christmas.
What an amazing year it turned out to be!
We read the book as a family
and then started filling jars for our neighbors.
Each jar contained 1 roll of pennies....
that was it!
We added a poem to the jar so that
the neighbor's wouldn't be left to wonder
what the purpose of a gift of 100 pennies meant.
Here's the Poem:
A jar of pennies JUST FOR YOU . . .
we really went all out!
But the real meaning of this gift
IS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT!
A pocket full of change, can be a
heavy thing to pack . . .
So just place it in this little jar,
and remember - NOT TO TAKE IT BACK!
When filled, this jar can CHANGE THE HEART
of someone who is in need.
The story is told in “Christmas Jars”
a book you’ll definitely want to read.
Jars are given in SECRET . . .
NO ONE MUST EVER KNOW,
just where their CHRISTMAS JAR came from,
or the next place it may go.
So we hope this year you’ll FILL YOUR JAR,
AND SEND IT ON IT’S WAY . . .
To follow the Savior’s example,
and make Christmas HIS HOLIDAY!
May the TRUE meaning of Christmas
be with you throughout the year!
Tricia O. Smith
Here's the PDF:
Green Gift Tag:
Here's the PDF:
Gift Tag:
Here's the PDF:
Gift Tag
Here's the PDF for the Gift Tags:
I tied a ribbon to the neck of the jar
and added the gift tag.
.....
This was one of my
favorite neighborhood gifts to give
because I knew it had the potential to
 BLESS
the lives of others in need.
It was truly a blessing for my family!
.....

7 comments:

  1. Thank you!!! This is perfect. We read the Christmas Jars children's book a couple of nights ago & I was wondering why I haven't seen a cutesy, crafty idea for gift giving? I am so excited to make these for our family Christmas party gift exchange! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

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  2. Oh my! What a GREAT idea! Love the book. Love the poem. TOtally doing this! So much better than candy. Thanks!

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  3. I have done this for the past few years in the purpose of giving.Both years my husband ended up being out of work so we had to use it. Hopefully next year we will get to share!

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  4. Thanks for the adorable printables and wonderful idea...I keep trying to download the pdfs but am only able to get the tags - none of the poems will work. Any ideas on why? Thanks again!

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  5. Thank you for the wonderful and creative poem labels! My daycare kids are making these jars for their parents for Christmas and I was searching for labels and came across yours. Perfect! Have a Merry Christmas!

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  6. If they aren't suppose to know who the jar is from, why are there to and from tags?

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  7. We actually gave them as neighborhood gifts with a single roll of pennies to get them started. They take the "To and From" tags off, fill them with change and give them anonymously. Once our personal family jars are filled we NEVER include a tag. That's the best part!!!
    Hope that makes sense!
    Have a great day,
    Trish

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