JOY to the {whole wide} world (& FREE mason jar topper printable!)

Today's project is a recipe, craft, and gift...all wrapped up in one. I wanted to create something to give to our church family and neighbors for Christmas gifts, but also knew the time was ticking to be able to get everything made and passed out before people start their holiday traveling. I decided on making a salted caramel sauce in a decorated canning jar.

I started with the basic recipe for salted caramel sauce that I heard about from my crafty friend, Joscelyne, found here. I did make a few slight adjustments in the ingredients: I used 1 tbsp. molasses as a substitute for the 1 tbsp. Karo syrup and I used ½ tsp. vanilla extract in place of the ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste.

So, the ingredients I used were:

1 ½ c. pure cane sugar

⅓ c. water

1 tbsp. molasses

1 ¼ c. heavy whipping cream

½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. sea salt

The sauce-making process was very easy and probably took less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

I made a quadruple batch (to have plenty to give away as gifts)...it was a total of about 3 ½ quarts of salted caramel sauce - yum! I filled twenty 4 oz. jelly jars (for gifts) and two 16 oz. pint jars (to keep at home), but if you are wanting to divide it evenly you can make a quadruple batch to fill: 7 pint jars -or- 14 half-pint jars -or- 28 4 oz. jelly jars.

Once I had cooled the sauce, it was time to decorate the mason jars. I created these "JOY to the {whole wide} world" jar toppers (which I am sharing with you) and wrapped the lids with some of The Twinery's twines. (I designed the printable toppers to coordinate with The Twinery's Caribbean, Solid Caribbean, Honeydew, Solid Honeydew, and Ocean twines.)

Get the FREE canning jar topper printables here:

Regular Mouth Printable

Wide Mouth Printable

{Note: Make sure you do not choose the printing option "fit to page" - the sizing will be off.}

Printables are for personal use only.

There are two printable choices which are sized to fit regular mouth canning jars and wide mouth canning jars, respectively. Simply print, cut around each design, and insert into the metal rim. Then, add the metal lid beneath the topper, screw onto your jar, tie with twine...and you are done!

For twenty handmade gifts - these came together rather quickly. 

Quick, homemade, and delicious...it's a win/win/win!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Supplies: 
Printable: Tifany DeGough / InkBlotsbyTRD.blogspot.com (Joy to the {whole wide} world);
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 110#);
Twine: The Twinery (Caribbean, Solid Caribbean, Honeydew, Solid Honeydew, Ocean);
Tools: Fiskars (Scissors);
Other: Ball (Mason Jars);