If you’re looking for a fun gift for a cocktail lover, DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits are it. These fun gifts are so easy to put together and you can tailor them for your recipient.
For more crafts, check out all of our DIY posts.
My friend hosts a Christmas Eve party every year. And each year, Santa comes and gives everyone a gift. This year, Santa brought DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits for some of the guests — which my friend made because she is amazingly crafty.
They were a huge hit with everyone at the party.
So, of course, I had to deconstruct to reconstruct one of the DIY cocktail kits so I could show yoiu how to make your own craft cocktail kit. It’s a great idea for hostess gifts, party favors for a bachelorette party or bridal shower, neighbors gifts for Christmas … as long as these people drink alcohol, anyway.
A quick rundown of the gift: It’s basically a cocktail in a jar — without the spirit. You could add mini alcohol bottles, but we don’t include them. The way these are made, your gift recipient will add his or her own alcohol. But, still, this gift is intended to be given to anyone of legal drinking age only (21+ in the United States).
If you’re looking for more gifts for your spirit loving friend, check out our list of the Top 10 Gifts For Cocktail Lovers.
DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits
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DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits Supplies:
- Mandoline
- 1 pear
- 8 oz. mason jar
- 4 teaspoons sugar (or 4 sugar cubes)
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 10 craisins
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Tag-shaped paper punch
- Card stock
- Single hole punch
- Pen
- Yarn
How To Make DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits:
Use a mandolin to slice your pear into thin, uniform slices. If you don’t have a mandolin, you can use a sharp knife. Just try to cut them as thin and uniform as possible.
Place your pear slices on a wire cooling rack. Then, put that rack on a baking sheet.
Bake the pear slices in an oven at 200 F for two hours. Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
Note: Your dried fruit may still be a little flexible after the two hours. It will dry out as it cools. If you feel like it’s not done, you can leave it in the oven for longer. The time will vary based on how thick your slices are.
Open the mason jar.
Add the sugar to the mason jar.
Remove the rosemary from the sprig and add that on top of the sugar.
Add in the craisins.
Add in your dehydrated pear slices.
Replace the flat cap of the mason jar.
Use your scissors to cut a 7- by 7- inch square of fabric. You can use decorative edge craft scissors to make the fabric look a little more fancy since this is a gift.
Put the fabric on top of the flat cap of the mason jar. Add the screw band to close the mason jar.
Use a tag-shaped paper punch to cut a piece of card stock into a tag shape.
Use a single hole punch to punch a hole in the top of the tag.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to make a homemade drink tag, you can purchase paper tags online.
On one side of the tag, write the name of your cocktail. My friend called this one Prancer’s Punch, but you can call yours whatever you want.
On the other side of the tag, write the contents of the drink and instructions: “Infuse in refrigerator with vodka for three days.”
You may also want to note on the tag that your gift recipients need to strain the cocktail before drinking.
Cut a piece of yarn long enough to loop around the top of the mason jar twice.
Loop it through the hole in the top of the tag, then tie it around the top. If you don’t have yarn handy, you could also use twine.
My friend gifted these as is, but you could add bar tools (like a strainer or stirrer) to a gift bag with tissue paper ad mini bottles of alcohol if you were making these for something like a Secret Santa or white elephant gift exchange where you needed to bulk this up a little bit.
Variations:
You can combine any dehydrated fruit, sweetener, and spices to create your drink kits. But, if you’re looking for some suggestions to get you started, we have some cocktail recipes below.
Cosmo In A Jar
Dehydrated fresh lime slices and craisins. Fill with vodka. Add cranberry juice before drinking.
Mimosa In A Jar
Dehydrated orange slices Fill with champagne. Add orange juice before drinking.
Classic Old Fashioned In A Jar
Dehydrated orange slices, dehydrated cherries, a cinnamon stick, and sugar cubes. Fill with bourbon or whiskey.
Sangria In A Jar
Dehydrated apple slices, dehydrated lemon slices, dehydrated orange slices and sugar cubes. Fill with red or white wine.
DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits: Frequently Asked Questions
It would be more frugal to upcycle any glass jar rather than purchasing mason jars for this gift. However, most glass jars don’t have a two-piece top, which allows you to add a piece of festive fabric. If you want to skip the fabric, though, you can use any glass items that are food-safe.
It’s honestly really easy to dehydrate slice of fresh fruit in your oven. The time it takes varies by fruit, so definitely check out this post about How to Dehydrate Fruits and Vegetables from the Food Network if you’re going to make your own cocktails.
If you don’t have the time to dehydrate fruit slices (which honestly, you might want to make time for because it’s much more frugal), you can purchase dehydrated fruit online.
These cocktail kits need to sit in the fridge for three days in order for the dry ingredients to infuse into the spirits.
If you were to make a mocktail, you would use something like lemon-lime soda or tonic water instead of alcohol. Those can’t sit in a mason jar for days. They’ll go flat. So, you would either need to tell your friend to use a non-alcoholic spirit (which yes, is a thing and something you can order online) or tell your friend to use add hot water and a tea bag (but only steep the tea for a few minutes, not days).
You can drink these straight or you can use them as a mixer with additional ingredients.
Purchase Cocktail Infusion Kits Online:
If you really like these cocktail kits, but don’t have time for handmade gifts, you can purchase similar ones, like the In High Spirits cocktail infusion kits above, at the following stores:
Don’t forget to check a store’s minimum cart total to qualify for free shipping.
More Homemade Gift Ideas Using Mason Jars:
If you purchased a case of mason jars to make DIY cocktail infusion kits, and you have some extra that you want to use for people who don’t drink, our DIY Snow Globe Mason Jar Toppers For Candy Holders are a great gift idea. We fill our mason jars with chocolate, but you could fill it with whatever you think would make the perfect gift for your friend.
We also have our DIY No. 2 Pencil Mason Jar Pencil Holder, which is perfect for the teacher on your gift list, and our graduation cap gift for a recent graduate. You can check out our other mason jar crafts for some more inspiration this holiday season.
DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits
If you’re looking for a fun gift for a cocktail lover, DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits are it. These fun gifts are so easy to put together and you can tailor them for your recipient.
Materials
- 1 pear
- 8 oz. mason jar
- 4 teaspoons sugar (or 4 sugar cubes)
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 10 craisins
- Fabric
- Card stock
- Yarn
Tools
- Mandoline
- Scissors
- Tag-shaped paper punch
- Single hole punch
- Pen
Instructions
- Use a mandolin to slice your pear into thin, uniform slices.
- Place your pear slices on a wire cooling rack. Then, put that rack on a baking sheet. Bake the pear slices in an oven at 200 F for two hours. Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
- Open the mason jar. Add the sugar to the mason jar.
- Remove the rosemary from the sprig and add that on top of the sugar.
- Add in the craisins.
- Add in your dehydrated pear slices and replace the flat cap of the mason jar.
- Use your scissors to cut a 7- by 7- inch square of fabric.
- Put the fabric on top of the flat cap of the mason jar. Add the screw band to close the mason jar.
- Use a tag-shaped paper punch to cut a piece of card stock into a tag shape.
- Use a single hole punch to punch a hole in the top of the tag.
- On one side of the tag, write the name of your cocktail.
- On the other side of the tag, write the contents of the drink and instructions: “Infuse in refrigerator with vodka for three days.”
- Cut a piece of yarn long enough to loop around the top of the mason jar twice. Loop it through the hole in the top of the tag, then tie it around the top.
Have you made these DIY Mason Jar Cocktail Kits? Let us know how it went in the comments.