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.

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.

diy sticker book

So I found a tutorial for this adorable little sticker book on Samster Mommy.  I have been searching high and low for the perfect sticker book for Adison. She has a few little books that came with stickers, and they are great for what they are, but I wanted something with plain pages that she can place and replace her stickers over and over, and my search was getting way too long and way too fruitless for my taste.

The tutorial was easy to follow, and while my book did not turn out quite as neat & professionally done as I had hoped, I have to remind myself that a 2 year old does not care about even edging or pesky bits of dried hot glue.

I won't rehash the entire tutorial, which you can find right here, but I will say that I did follow the scrapbook paper tip.  I chose to use very bright & vivid patterned paper, which is nice because you can see it a little peeking through the freezer paper.  Instead of spray adhesive, I used plain white glue mixed with a teeny bit of water (just enough to make it a paint consistency) and then painted it on evenly with a small brush.

Here are my results:

See the little Hello Kitty sticker on the front cover?  Scored those in a 90% off package of valentines at Target this year....yup, 29 cents for a couple hundred stickers!

So I made some crayons...

My daughter's birthday is January 21,and so naturally I am already planning some of the details of her birthday party.
We will be doing a Yo Gabba Gabba theme, and I hope to accomplish a lot of the decorations, games, etc with DIY projects rather than going all store bought.  I have been researching the fine art of pinata making!  Also a good friend did her invites for the 1st bday, and I plan to have her work some photoshop magic again for this coming year as well. 
Today's project was just a rough draft, I was working on a party favor...homemade / repurposed crayons.

I used a silicone cupcake pan, this one was from Target's cheapo section in the front of the store and has snowflake shaped cups! Super cute to add to a child's holiday gift, but I am hoping to find something less seasonal when it comes time to do her actual favors (possibly a star, but open to suggestions).

Preheat your oven to 275.

Peel the crayons' paper wrappers off and discard. 

"Grease" the muffin cups..I used vegetable oil, but I have read that you can use nonstick cooking spray as well.  I would imagine the result would be the same, so just use what you have on hand!

Break the crayons into small pieces and put into muffin cups. I used 4 crayons per cup, however the finished product did come out a little thinner than I would like, so next time I am going to double the amount per cup.

Next pop the pan in the oven!  I always put my silicone bakeware on a metal cooking sheet to give it more stability, I think that is especially important for this project as you do not want melted wax flying all over you (or your kitchen) when you take out the wobbly muffin pan.

I baked my crayons for 8 minutes and then checked them and stirred the wax a big with a toothpick.  At 8 minutes, the wax was still lumpy but softening.  I then checked every couple minutes stirring out the lumps until the wax was completely smooth/liquid.  The entire baking process took less than 15 minutes, but your time may vary due to oven performance, so be sure to check often as you do not want to fill your home with the smell of burning crayons!

As you can see, the wax has liquified and they don't look too appealing in liquid form!  Don't think you have ruined your crayons, they look much different on the other side!

Let cool completely!!!! I cannot stress this one enough. I tried to remove one crayon too early and it did crumble.  Crayons should be solid, obviously, and cool to the touch before you attempt to remove them from the pan.

Carefully remove each crayon from the mold one at a time.  With a simple muffin pan you will probably be able to work more quickly, with this snowflake shape I did have to take more care as the pattern is more intricate.

Enjoy your finished product! (here's mine)

Any questions, please feel free to comment.  If anyone makes their own crayons, I would love to get a peek at them!