HOMEMADE OVERNIGHT OATS KIT DELUXE (a DIY gift that’s fun to make & nice to receive!)

These Homemade Overnight Oat Kits may just be the perfect homemade gift for a foodie, breakfast-loving friend!

I gave these kits as gifts when I hosted our annual pre-Christmas food and crafting day a couple of weeks ago. With one of my friends about to jet off to NYC, the others busy with little ones and myself very pregnant, I thought it might be a wise idea to combine our annual get-together with a bit of a pre-baby do… not exactly a baby shower or blessingway, rather something still lovely, yet far more informal.

I did create these little Dear Baby printables…

The girls filled them in as we sat around the table after tucking into our lunch/afternoon tea of Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup, Broccoli Bites + Allergy-Free Bread (both made from recipes in Sarah Wilson’s new book, Simplicious) with herby cheese smash, Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake Pops, Matcha Gemstone Chocolates, Cinnamon Dusted Sugar Cookies… and contributions brought by the girls, including ginger orange tea, buns and chocolate balls.

Phew! That’s a whole lot of eating! 😀

And back to the Overnight Oats Kits, of course they could be constructed in many ways, with certain items or ingredients swapped for others, but this is how I put mine together based upon what I had available and what I thought my friends would like…

I thought it would be timely to share this post now… with 10 days left to go until Christmas, I am sure there are a few people (myself included!) still organising and preparing. I hope you like this simple gift idea (which happens to double as a recycling project!).
<3 MM xx

 

HOMEMADE OVERNIGHT OATS KIT DELUXE

ITEMS (to make 1 kit)

A recycled, sterilised jar* with lid, approx. 350 ml capacity
*see the method I have used for sterilising below
3 small cellophane bags (you could use small jars instead, if you have some around)
1 box/basket (I bought mine from Granit)
Tissue paper (even newspaper would be cute, though!)
Ribbon
A rubber band
A paper bag or thin cardboard
Washi tape (optional)
A pretty spoon (this might be the only thing you need to buy other than ingredients!)
Staples and a stapler
Clear tape

INGREDIENTS (to make 1 kit)
100 ml porridge oats of choice (I used gluten-free)
1-2 tbsp activated buckwheat groats
1 tbsp cacao nibs
2 tbsp dried cranberries
2 tbsp raisins
75 ml crunchy granola (I made a batch of IQS Coco-Nutty Granola and replaced cinnamon with homemade pumpkin spice mix for a festive twist)

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut squares of tissue paper large enough to cover the lid of the jar (you may need 3-4 layers of tissue paper).
2. Pop 100 ml of oats into the jar and seal. Secure the tissue paper squares in place over the lid with a rubber band.
3. Make a gift tag using rectangles of cut brown paper bag/card (mine measured 90 mm x 45 mm) and write “Overnight Oats Kit Deluxe” on one side. On the reverse side of the tag, you can write a message and/or the instructions for usage… along the lines of:
   “Simply add 200 ml milk of choice to the jar, give it a shake, pop it in the fridge overnight and add toppings of choice + a little extra milk in the morning. Enjoy!”
4. Tie ribbon around the lid of the jar to cover the rubber band and attach the gift tag.
5. Cut a smaller piece of ribbon and tie a bow around the spoon.
6. Measure your cellophane bags to determine the size of the labels you need to create. Cut 3 labels of the suitable size from your paper bag/thin card, bearing in mind that they need to be folded in half so should be rather square-ish in shape.
7. Fold each label in half and write a description of the bag contents (I used little stickers that I had to spell out “Crunchies”, “Berries” and “Granola”). If using washi tape, line up a strip of your chosen tape with the edge of each label and stick down.
   
8. Fill each bag with your chosen toppings, fold the top edge of each bag over and attach a small piece of clear tape to hold it in place. Place the appropriate label over each bag and staple the sides.
9. Place tissue paper in the bottom of the box/basket and arrange your items inside.

 

TO STERILISE JARS

1. Wash jars and lids thoroughly. They should be spotless.
2. Place jars upside down in a cold oven and then heat oven to 160 degrees C. Once the oven has reached this temperature, turn off the heat.
3. Sterilise lids by boiling them in water for 10 minutes. Leave the lids in the water until you are ready to use them.
4. Once your finished product is cooled in the sterilised jar, lift out the lid out using a pair of tongs, dry it off and seal the jar before storing or using.

 

 

For other easy, inexpensive DIY festive gift ideas, see these old posts:

ROSEMARY-INFUSED SEA SALT (a perfect pantry staple or homemade gift)

SIMPLE LAVENDER SALT SCRUB (a quick, thrifty and beautiful homemade spa-in-a-jar gift)

CHRISTMAS HOT CHOCOLATE MIX IN A JAR (instructions for easy, pretty homemade gifts + FREE printable labels)

FROZEN BERRY JAM (no doubt the easiest, yummiest way to use up frozen berries!)

VEGAN CHOCOLATE SNICKERDOODLES (yummy spice-laced, sugar-coated, crackly-topped cookies)

FROSTY SNOWFLAKE-STAMPED SUGAR COOKIES (possibly the easiest way to “cheat” your way to a decorated festive cookie without candy, chocolate or icing!)