DIY Russian Tea Mason Jar Gift with Photo Gift Tag

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One recipe that stands out from my early teen years is Russian Tea Mix, also known as friendship tea. My mom used to make it every winter and I fell in love with the citrus flavors and warmth it offered on a cold night. When I thought about creating a recipe in a jar, my mind went back to this memory. It is super easy to make and looks great in a mason jar no matter which size is used.  I decorated my jars and even added a photo gift tag for that extra personal touch for this homemade holiday gift.

I knew putting the mix together was going to be the extra easy part. It is literally just measuring out a few ingredients and stirring them together. This is a great recipe for kids to help or do entirely themselves. Homemade gifts that kids can make like this friendship tea or these chocolate dipped candy canes always makes gift giving more fun for them!

Russian Tea Mix Ingredients

Russian tea requires just a few key ingredients including orange flavored drink mix. We’ve always used Tang  and I can’t imagine what it would taste like without it. You’ll also need a dry lemonade drink mix that is already sweetened like Country Time Lemonade and unsweetened tea in powder from Lipton. Add a bit of sugar, cinnamon and cloves and you’ve got a delicious drink to enjoy any time! Just add a couple of spoonfuls to some boiling water.

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Russian Tea Mix

Course Drink

Author Unknown

Ingredients

• 2 cups orange-flavored drink mix Tang
• 1 cup lemonade-flavored drink mix
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup instant unsweetened tea powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. (Let ingredients settle for best flavor.)
2. To serve, add 2 to 4 teaspoons to a mug. Add boiling water and stir.

It doesn’t get easier than that.

How to Make a Mason Jar Gift

I picked up some supplies from my local craft store. Because of the flavors of the tea, I thought cinnamon sticks were a great fit for the outside and of course they smell divine. To dress up the jars, I found fun clear scrapbook stickers which attached easily to the outside.

I wanted to make our jars very personalized, so I put in an order online for the Walgreens Photo Center just down the street.  I wasn’t sure exactly what size I would need so I ordered some wallet prints that were $.99 for a sheet of four and created a few collage prints in different sizes so I would have some choices. The collage prints are only $.39 for a 4″x6″ sheet so they were actually the cheapest route but in the end I used the wallet size for my tag. What works best for you will depend upon the picture you choose and how many pictures you add into the collage. My pictures had a lot of background included so they were more flexible than a close up shot would be in this case.  Ultimately the wallet size ended up being perfect with a little trimming and I loved the collages so much I didn’t want to cut them if I didn’t need to.

It took me no time at all. My Walgreens offered same day pick up and in my case, was done in an hour. I used a coupon code I found right on Walgreens which gave me 50% off with a $10 order or more so I added in some prints. This was very affordable! (Note: If your pictures were professionally done, be sure to have a copy of your photographer’s print release. I had to fill out a form and provide a copy in order to obtain my pictures.)

For the tops of my jars, I cut some burlap garland and tied them off with some ribbon. I inserted a cinnamon stick in the knot and added a few wire berries. They were very easy to attach, especially since my ribbon has holes.

Using my wavy crafting scissors and some double-sided tape, I trimmed my photo to fit and attached to my gift tags. I embellished them a bit at the edges and attached them to my ribbon with decorative pins.  I played around with different layouts, and the possibilities are endless.  The back of the gift tag was the perfect place to include the simple instructions for the Russian tea.

This was a super easy project and is great for gift giving this holiday season. I plan to keep these jars on hand for hostess or teacher gifts. And I’m definitely going to be making some more photo gift tags for presents with the leftover wallets. They were surprisingly easy and really make gifts stand out! Hope you love this Russian Tea Mix gift idea that is perfect for the holidays.