For Christmas, I gave people what I called "Hope Jars"- Upcycled containers with 365 encouraging quotes, song lyrics, or Scriptures in them. Since we didn't have any money to spend, and because I love making special gifts for people, I had to be creative.
I collected glass and plastic food jars, cleaned them out, and decoupaged with pretty papers. I painted a bird and "Hope Jar" on each one, and filled them with daily words of encouragement. Most of the strips of paper were from "Streams in the Desert" and other books that had really given me hope last year. I prayed over each quote and each jar as I was making them, and it really blessed me as much as it blessed the people I gave them to. I even made one for Ted & myself, so we read one daily and put it in a box to reuse for the next year.
I will be posting a few "Hope Jars" on my etsy shop soon, so let me know if you'd like to buy one for yourself or as a special gift for someone else.
