Cooking Journals in Jars & More!

Journals in Jars are wonderful gift ideas for parents, grandparents, teens, ‘tween’s, children, friends, neighbors- Anyone! They can be adapted for any age or interest group- even children who are just learning to read & write, or don’t read and write yet!  They are fantastic to encourage folks to write down their life stories for their children and grandchildren!

Journals in Jars require a jar, as well as an additional gift pack and an instruction card. The gift pack should enable the recipient to complete a hard copy journal.  Suggested materials for the gift pack, are paper, recipe cards, a binder, vinyl sleeves and scrap booking supplies.

Inside the jar, you will place multi-colored strips of paper with prompts written on them. You can include as many questions or prompts as you like.

There are many great sources for jars to use in making your Journal Jars Packs- select from among the following, or come up with new sources!

*    Thrift Shops
*    Yard Sales
*    Recycled Mayonnaise or food jars
*    Decorative Tins
*    Recycled Candle jars
*    Dollar Store finds
*    Recycled kitchen canisters

You can decorate your jar, by cutting a 9 inch-diameter circle from fabric of your choice (new or recycled fabric both work well- old aprons or blouses are great recycled fabric sources). Center fabric circle over lid, and secure in place using a rubber band. Finish by tying a bow over the rubber band- raffia, yarn or ribbon all make great bows! Last, attach a card or label with directions on making the journal.

Below are some sample prompts from 'Cooking Journals in Jars & More!'. They cover several age groups, and should help you get started on creating your own unique Journal Jars.

See a sample Journal Page!  Adult w/recipes: 1-    Sugar Cookie recipe; Relate an experience baking/decorating sugar cookies with your parents, children or other person close to you. 2-    Cake recipe; Relate your favorite birthday. 3-    Pie recipe; Relate a fond memory of Thanksgiving with your family. 4-    Main Dish recipe; Relate where this recipe comes from and it’s history. 5-    Holiday recipe; Relate this recipe’s history, and any fond holiday memories associated with it.

 

Adult without recipes: 6-    Write a description of your husband or wife. 7-    Tell about retirement - when, where, what will/did you do with your time? 8-    Describe your mother's wedding dress - what do you know about her wedding? 9-    Where did you live as a child - town, country, suburb, etc? 10-    What is your greatest joy, your greatest sorrow?

 

Child- cannot read: 11-    Draw a picture of your family. 12-    Draw a picture of something that you are afraid of. 13-    Draw a picture of what you would buy if you had a million dollars. 14-    Draw a picture of your favorite clothes. 15-    Draw a picture of your bedroom.

 

Child- can read: 16- Who are my neighbors? What is something I like about them? 17-    Who's my favorite school teacher? Why? 18-    What do I think of myself? 19-    Do I like the way I look? If I could change any part of myself what would it be? 20-    What is the weirdest dream I've ever had?

 

Child, 'Tween' or Teen: 21-    Describe your favorite clothes? 22-    What kind of music do you like? What is your favorite song and why? 23-    What was your most embarrassing moment? 24-    Do you have a bicycle? What is it like? 25-    What instrument do you play or wish you could play, and why?

 

Child, 'Tween' or Teen w/recipes: 26- Recipe of Choice- Describe your sibling(s) and share a fond memory of each. 27-    Recipe of Choice- Describe the home you grew up in. Tell about the kitchen-  your bed room- your favorite family area. 28-    Recipe of Choice- What is your favorite ‘Comfort Food’? Why?

 

Family Time/Activities: 29-    Put together a family recipe book, including the favorite of each family member.   Write about this experience. 30-    Make a family quilt and donate to a women's shelter, local hospital, etc. Write about this experience. 31-    Make seasonal pillowcases or place mats, i.e.. Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, and give them to the pediatric unit at a hospital. Write about this experience. 32-    Organize a round robin letter to include extended family, college students and married siblings. Each family member writes part of the letter and mails it onto the next family member to add to the letter. This can be done in email. Write about this experience.

Graphics for scrap booking & journaling can be found here on the RF4RP website! 
Click Here for RF4RP Journaling Graphics

Ideas for using these graphics can be viewed by clicking on the above adult w/recipes sample journal page.

Pictures of completed Journal Jars as well as finished Journals will be added as they are available- feel free to send a digital picture of yours! To send your pictures to us, attach them to an email, with JOURNAL PICTURE SUBMISSION in the subject line- submissions without these words will likely be deleted, as attachments are not generally opened, due to the danger of computer viruses.

No matter which kind of journaling you choose to do with your Journal Jars, I wish you an enriching experience! Enjoy!

Do you want to have the complete version of 'Cooking Journals in Jars & More!'?    In this comprehensive collection you will get:

Own your copy of 'Cooking Journals in Jars & More!' e-book for only 5.00!