We made these Blue Ribbon Cookie Jars a few year’s ago for our daughter’s birthday party. They made the perfect party favors for the western pony themed party. For the perfect finishing touch, we added horse show ribbons that were customized with the birthday girl’s name and the year.
Pony Party Favors
When it came to our daughter’s 4th birthday party, we knew that the theme would be all things PONY. This was back in the heyday of PINTEREST and every party everywhere was themed and it was seriously fun to go a bit over-the-top. I probably started planning that pony party back in the spring or early summer. (The actual party was in September.) We had reserved a party slot at the farm where she takes lessons and I had a blast AND also stressed myself out by planning every last little detail.
We had a couple of fun favors for party guests, including the Blue Ribbon Cookie Jars (see below), a candy buffet and also homemade stick horses!
The cookie jar favors that we put together for this party were such a hit, I have made them for other parties over the years. You can switch up the color scheme by changing the M&M’s colors so the jars are easy to match with just about any party or event theme!
Cookie Jar Supplies
The supply list for these favor jars isn’t too long.
You will need:
- 1 quart-sized mason jar PER favor
- food ingredients (see below)
- fabric circles
- ribbon
- baking instructions (See these below. You can copy and paste these directions right onto a blank Word document and print a copy to accompany each jar. I made tags that had the instructions on them and tied them around the jar lid.)
Blue Ribbon Cookie Jar Ingredients
For EACH jar you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cooking oats
- 1/2 cup BLUE m&ms
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
I laid out all of my quart jars and filled these jars with one ingredient at a time, just like an assembly line. If you layer your jars by ingredient, the process will go a little quicker.
We made a makeshift funnel with a piece of cardstock and used it to fill the jars. The funnel helped to eliminate a mess and cut down on the “spillage” that occurred when filling the jars. The recipe that we used for these cookies was from a similar version on Bakerella.
Filling the Jars
Layer your ingredients in this order:
One: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Two: oats
Three: m&ms
Four: chocolate chips
Five: brown sugar
Six: white sugar
Seven: chopped pecans
Note: You will need to PACK each ingredient down as you go or else you won’t have room towards the end.
After each jar is filled to the brim with all of the ingredients, place the lids on the jars.
The jars looked great when they were finished! Each layer was very distinct in color from the others – and the blue m&ms provided a pretty accent.
Decorating the Cookie Jar Favors
Once all of the jars were packed with ingredients and sealed with lids, we added some accent colors. I used a regular old dessert plate to trace circles out of blue fabric that we bought at Walmart. This gave me circles of fabric that were big enough to fit the jar lids with a little extra hanging over.
Tie the fabric around the jar lid with ribbon. I had some leftover cards from Lily’s party invites and I used them as the tags. On the backs of the photo cards were directions for preparing and baking the batch of cookies. I printed these directions on white labels and affixed one to the back of each tag.
Baking Directions
You can copy and paste the text below into a blank document and hand out copies with the jars.
You will need to add: 1 egg, 1/2 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make your cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir dry ingredients in a bowl and add: 1 egg (slightly beaten), 1/2 cup butter (almost melted) and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Combine thoroughly.
Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and drop on baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Personalized Horse Show Ribbons
The icing on the cake, er cookie jar, was the custom horse show ribbon on each favor. I ordered these ribbons from Hodges Badge Company, Inc. Prices seemed reasonable (I got 25 ribbons at $2/each shipped). Shipping takes a few weeks, so make sure you order with plenty of time to spare before your party.
I hung a blue ribbon off of the top of each jar. They really did look fantastic! If you are familiar with traditional horse show ribbons, these ribbons were shorter in length. This allowed them to fit nicely on our quart jars.
Displaying the Favors
At the party, we displayed these cookie jar favors on a pretty wooden serving tray. The serving tray sat on a stack of haybales. The haybales were used as a place to pile up birthday gifts! (The haybale stack also made some great “bench” seating for the kids during the party!
These favors were a wonderful addition to our pony party. They looked amazing and fit perfectly with our theme. I used some of the leftover ingredients to whip up a batch of the cookies and I can tell you with the utmost confidence: THEY WERE DELICIOUS!
Let me know if you decide to give these jar gift party favors a try! They are a great favor to give and they are pretty easy to make in batches. I loved the final look of the layered jars at our party! If you make some of your own, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out!
What party favors have you used for pony or horse themed parties? Tell us about them in the comments!
