Decorative Jar DIY

Last week I made a mint sugar scrub & mentioned that a pretty jar would make it suitable for gift giving.

Materials:

scrapbook paper

paper punch

white glue or mod podge

clean glass jar

clear coat spray

hot glue

ribbon or other embellishments

So first thing is first, get a clean jar. You can buy a jar, or use one that you have.  I used an applesauce jar.  Make sure you clean the jar well if you are repurposing a food jar!  I also boiled my jar to help lift up the sticky residue from the jar label's glue.

Measure your jar's width and cut a sheet of scrap paper fit to wrap around the jar.  I chose to use a decorative punch to get this fun edge.  You could use a punch, hand cut with scissors or a razor blade, or use decorative scissors to create the edge you want.  I only did one edge, as I would later be covering the second edge with ribbon.

As you can tell, I had some slight major issues with getting my decorative edge the way I wanted it to look!

Word to the wise- do your punching over a trashcan or another sheet of paper, so you won't have to waste time scooping up all of this mess!

After you get your decorative edge the way you want, you are going to adhere the paper to the jar.  If you are reusing a food jar, look around and see if there are any markings that you might want to hide or disguise, this will help you with your paper placement.  My applesauce jar had small blue print on one side near the top, so I made that the "back" and that is where my paper seam is on the jar.  You can use a spray adhesive if you want, but I love simplicity so I went with good old fashioned white glue.  I used it full strength, it will work watered down to paint consistency just as well.  Spread  the glue in a thin, even coat, apply paper to jar, and smooth any bubbles out before the glue dries.

Apply a thin, even layer of glue.

Now we embellish!  I used a ribbon in a coordinating pattern to cover my one rough paper edge and line the rim of the jar.  Feel free to use your creativity and what you have on hand.  Buttons, silk flowers, and much more would work perfectly.  If you use ribbon, you will want to go ahead and give the cut edges a quick heat seal, then adhere to the jar with hot glue.  I also found a striped letter L chipboard that matched the colors from my paper and ribbon, so I added that to the front of the jar (L for Linda, my mom).

My tag with heart rub on transfer.

Finally I used a second punch to make a tag, and did a simple rub on transfer for the heart.  To add a bit of depth, I used Scotch mounting squares, which you can find in office supply or craft stores.  You could easily recreate the same effect using a bit of foam or corrugated cardboard and glue.

Scotch Mounting Squares

Finally give a nice even coat of clear coat spray over the entire jar.  Clear? not so much, it left a visible film on the glass, which I think actually works out fine, but if you want a completely clear glass you will want to protect the glass from being hit by the "clear" coat.

Front view of final product.

What can you use your jar to hold?  Add a lid and it's perfect for your sugar scrub, or go topless and use it to hold kitchen utensils, pens & pencils, or whatever else you have that needs a "spot."  I gave this to my mom & she now has a cute place to toss her spare change at the end of the day.

Sweet tag embellishment on the back.

Sugar Scrub DIY

So I was sitting here alternately brainstorming crafty projects and getting annoyed with dry skin on my hands, when it came to me...a project that would eliminate dry skin! :lightbulb:

So off to the kitchen I went in search of ingredients. I came up with a tiny bit of sugar, a bottle of olive oil and some peppermint oil. Planning ahead is obviously not my strong suit! I made do with what I had, which turned out to be less than 1/3 cup of sugar.  I now realize you can't even see the sugar in my supplies picture, but just trust that it's in the measuring cup!

The directions are quite complex, so pay close attention: dump the sugar & oil in a bowl and mix.

That's right, you just blend until moist. Now with my 2/3 full 1/3 cup of sugar I added about 3 tsp of olive oil (which by the way, you can substitute almond oil if you want). If you are making a larger batch, you will want to adjust the amount of oil accordingly. 

After I mixed in my oil, I added a couple drops of peppermint oil.  Again, you can substitute different essential oils depending on what scents you like.  I love the peppermint, it's invigorating and will be a great wake up in the morning. For a night time shower or bath, you might want to try lavender or vanilla.  The possibilities are pretty much endless. 

As for storage, with my little bit I made here, I just threw it in a baggie..it will be used up pretty quickly. If you are making a larger batch, make sure you store it in a sealed container (a glass jar will work nicely).  The scrub will last a couple months, after which point you will want to dispose of it (the oil will eventually spoil), but until that point, you can store your jar of scrub in the bathroom, no need to refrigerate.

Here's my finished product.  I think next I'll work on a decorative jar for storage to hold my next batch(adding sugar to the grocery list!).

I'd love to hear what essential oil combination anyone else decides to use!

Desktop Pencil Holder

Here's a quick craft that will help brighten up your desk top, a decorative pen/pencil holder.

Supplies:

clean can

scrapbook paper

white glue

hot glue gun/glue sticks

ribbon or other embellishments

Take your clean & dry can, measure paper so it is sized to wrap around the can.

Using a white glue/water mixture (add water and stir until it's a watery paint consistency), paint the back side of the scrapbook paper. I like to paint in small areas, roll around the can, paint another area, roll, and so on, I find it more manageable to do the glue in small amounts vs gluing the entire paper.

Paint and roll, smoothing paper as you go, until the can is covered. At this point, you can trim away any excess paper at the edges, using a razor blade or scissors.

Horsing around

We have done lots in the past 2 days, and hopefully the time won't slip away and I will be able to add some pictures from our activities, but for now...a craft!
I have been totally inspired by pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com lately.  She makes these really amazing boxes for her kids to play with...each one with a different them (school, farm, construction, etc).  Adison has been really into playing with this little horse figurines the past few days, so I thought it was the perfect time to make her a little play area for her horses to stomp around.

Here is Adison playing with her horses

My supplies...admittedly, I didn't start taking pictures until after I was all finished, so these are my supplies remnants!

I used:
Diaper box
Knife, scissors, & a paper cutter (you can use any or all of them, or an exacto knife)
Scrap booking papers
Scotch scrapbooking glue
Crayola washable kids paint in red & brown (it really washes out with just water, we swear by it!)
Hot glue gun & glue sticks
Cut drinking straws

I just cut my diaper box up until it was the shape I wanted, measured and cut the papers to fit the inside of the diaper box, glued the papers in, created a little barn with cardboard scraps and drinking straws (I cut them to size and glued them in place to act as braces holding the walls and roof together). 

All in all, I just used what I had around the house to make this sweet little land for our horses to roam.