Thursday, July 7, 2011

Jam Jar Favours / Bonboniere

These sweet little jam jars doubled as favours (or bonbonierre, whatever you call them) and place cards at our wedding.



Our 100 year old venue used to be a Jam Factory, back in the day.. so we thought this was fitting. 
Plus it fit with the overall rustic theme.

I had every intention of making the jam myself, but I soon realised that was slightly beyond me. Have you ever read about how to make jam?? Despite my expectations, it is NOT as simple as cooking fruit and sugar and bottling the mixture. First you have to find mini jars as cute as the ones above. Then there's all this technical stuff.. like you have to heat the jam jars so they are hot when you fill them wit hot liquid. Which means you have to handle them with tongs, not hands (fiddly!). And then you cant just put a lid on... you have to boil them (with lids on) in order to sterilise and seal them (messy.. and still fiddly!). 

Have I put you off making your own jam yet??

Well.. what if I tell you that you can buy ready made jam in mini jars for only $1 each? Yep, that changed my mind too! I picked up 150 jars for about $150.

Then I set to work with a little DIY. 
I removed the existing labels so that they looked a little more home-made and rustic. 
I cut little squares of orange gingham (which matched our groomsmen's ties perfectly). 
And I tied them up with string (which tied in with our invitations).
Then we attached tags with guests names. 

They looked great and the guests loved them.
I'm pretty sure our niece opened hers and ate it on her bread roll at the reception!

7 comments:

  1. Such a cute and clever idea. How did you remove the labels? Was it just by soaking in water? Thanks!

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  2. Thank you! Actually, the labels peeled off quite easily (like stickers) and I used an oily product on a cloth to remove the sticky residue that was left. (Citro-Clean - it works wonders!)

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  3. Really appreciate your reply!
    Am seriously considering this as a wedding favour!

    As a matter of interest, how big were your jars? Were they the ones that came as 28g or 40g jars?

    Thanks again!

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  4. Hmm.. I just checked the spare jars, but of course i have pulled the labels off of all of them so can't see the size! haha!
    I checked the emails from Beerenberg and the 28g was only 60c each, which is making me think that maybe I bought the next size up (40g) because I think ours were more.

    Are you in Adelaide? If so, I suggest a drive up there to see them in person.. then you can see which size you like best - plus try the different flavours! ;)

    Would love to hear back if you end up getting them + seeing what you do with them!

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  5. ^ Thanks for reverting!
    I'm not in Adelaide unfortunately and have contacted the folks at Beerenberg.

    Whilst they do not do mail order, they have referred me to their distributor in Perth who only sell to restaurants and caterers!

    The hunt continues online! Will let you know how I go! Cheers,

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  6. What a shame, they definitely offered to mail to me.. but it would cost a bit.
    If you get desperate, maybe make a trip here! Or maybe I could buy and send to you. Good luck!

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  7. Thanks!You're such a darl for offering to help! Beerenberg have referred me to another distrubutor, so fingers crossed!

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