DiY tutorial & FREE printables: rosemary & sea salt roasted almonds

Each holiday season I create a small homemade gift that can be given to friends, neighbors and houseguests. Last year I baked a variety of cookies, but when delivering the boxes I discovered that most people were already up to their ears in holiday sweets. So this year I vowed to go with a savory treat instead. I absolutely love Marcona almonds (but they can be a little pricey) so I decided to create my own homemade version: olive oil roasted almonds with rosemary & sea salt. Below is the recipe, along with a tutorial for how to create the jars. I’ve also provided a free printable for the gift tags, so you can try this project out yourself. (Note: the wreath in the design was actually obtained from another free download provided by the fabulous Nonpareil magazine). Hope it gets you in the holiday spirit!

PS: Look for these almonds featured as favors at the holiday gift wrap party I'll be posting later this week.

To make the Almonds:
-5 lbs blanched almonds
-Olive oil
-6-8 sprigs fresh rosemary {stems discarded}
-Coarse sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. In a large bowl, toss almonds in olive oil until well coated.
3. Sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary
4. Spread evenly on baking pans, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until light golden brown in color.
tip: allow almonds to cool completely before filling jars.

For the Jars:
-24 small glad jars with lids {I ordered mine from specialty bottle}
-Fabric to cover lids
-Ribbon
-24 rubberbands
-Gift tags

1. Cut out fabric into squares and cut lengths of ribbon. {Tip: create a sample to find the measurements you like and use that to measure out the rest}.
2. Print and cut out tags using scissors or a circle cutter. Punch hole in top center.
3. Pull rubberband through tag hole and loop through to hold in place.
4. Fasten fabric to jar lids with tagged rubberband.
5. Tie ribbon around rubberband and center with a bow.

Download gift tags HERE

{all images copyright birthday girl 2010}