A Neighborly Upcycled New Year

Have you dug yourself out from under all the Christmas decorations and the discarded wrapping paper, boxes and bows yet?  Thankfully, I have and am now onto upcycling for the New Year. And this year, I'll start with my neighbor!

I'm not sure when it started but my neighbor and I are both single women who enjoy cooking (when we have the time) but hate the waste of cooking a larger meal for one.  So we've gotten into the habit of creating some fabulous dishes and sharing with one another quite frequently.  Well, if you haven't heard I will be relocating in January and this fun little tradition that we've started will be no more.  So, I've spent the last couple of weeks making some fabulous soups, stews and chillies in the crockpot and started freezing them (in upcycled pasta sauce jars, of course).  On New Years Day I'll deliver a basketful of meals so she has a few to keep her going until she breaks in a new neighbor. What do you think?

Not only is the container upcycled, but so is the recipe card.    Here's how I made it:

1:  Cut a small piece of thin cardboard to size.  I used the cardboard that is often tucked inside of a man's folded dress shirt so it's thick but still flexible.
2:  Use a little Mod Podge to adhere some leftover tissue paper from the holidays.
3:  Disassemble a holiday card and glue a nice blank section to the tissue paper-covered cardboard.
4:  Now just write your recipe on the card and attach it to your jar.

*** Just a word of caution if you decide to make these at home - Be very careful to use a thicker glass jar and leave plenty of room for your creations to expand.  I lost two jars of chili before I finally got it right.