Jar crafts

Around the holidays, everyone likes to put up all those recipe-in-a-jar things, but honestly, they are getting old. There are so many other cute and creative things you can do with jars that will last longer than those cookies! Here are just a few ideas.

A. Make a terrarium in a jar. I found some instructions, and this picture at the HGTV site. However, their instructions seem overly complicated to me. (Be warned, I am terrible with plants and growing things, but I do love them.)

So I did this my own way.

You will need:

• A jar
• pebbles or gravel
• potting soil
• a plant (I suggest a small succulent or cactus, or if you are as bad as I am, a nice fake silk plant.)
• decorations (twigs, moss, colored glass gems or marbles...whatever tickles your fancy!)

1. Wash your jar and dry it. Add a thin layer of gravel or small rocks to the bottom.

2. Add some potting soil.

3. Use chopsticks or a spoon to make an indent for your plant.

4. Put plant in the indent and scootch dirt around so roots are covered. Add more dirt with spoon if needed.

5. Decorate. Put in some pretty glass gems, some twigs, even a layer of moss or small glass animals and fake flowers. Anything you want to make it pretty and fun.

6. Water. When you water, use a very small amount, as there is little drainage.

7. Put someplace partly sunny and enjoy.


B. Make a keepsake jar.

Instead of buying dull picture frames, make a keepsake or memory jar of a special event or outing.

I first saw the idea here, at Women's World

You don't need much - just a jar and your bits and pieces! You may want a magic marker or paper label to write down the date and place the items are from.

1. Gather your treasures
2. Label your jar
3. Fill your jar with your treasures.

A few helpful tips:

• If you want to put small pictures in, use sand or small stones to hold your photo upright.
• Using long tweezers or chopsticks to get things right where you want helps immensly!
• If you are concerned about your treasures getting knocked out of place, dab a bit of quick-drying glue on the bottom as you place them, or even a small piece of double-sided tape.

You can make these as great wedding or shower mementos, use them for baby keepsakes, give them as gifts handcrafted about a special memory or place that you and a loved one share, etc, etc. The possibilities are endless, and they make great conversation pieces! Great projects for a scout troop or club! Fantastic for book reports - use items that are important for the plot or characters in the book and impress your teachers! Overall, have fun with them :)

C. Savings Jar

I just love putting change into a jar until it is finally full and I can find out all the money I didn't know I had.

Cute savings jars are simple to make.

You will need:

• A jar
• glue or tape
• decorations (I like to print out pictures and clip art)

1. Decorate your jar. Going on a trip? Put a picture of the place. Saving for a fun new toy? Tape an ad for it on there. Want party fun money? Decorate with glitter and streamers. Have fun!
2. If you are feeling mean, or need the extra motivation, glue a lid with a slit cut in it onto your jar. Metal canning jar lids make this tough, but coffee cans with plastic tops work great!

A few silly ideas to give these as gifts (with a small starter fund if you're feeling generous):
-boob-job jar for a close gal pal (with a sense of humor)
-retirement fund jar for parents/older friends and loved ones
-pirate booty jar for a younger child
-babysitter money for new parents
-iCoin for the tech and gadget guy in your life
-car money for a sweet sixteen
-beer money for the recent grad
-honeymoon fund for a bridal or jack and jill party

So save your jars and up-cycle them into something way more fun!

Gift ideas - Simple and Fun DIY gifts

I always like to add personal, handmade touches to gifts for all occasions, so here are a few of my very favorites. They're inexpensive and fun, and are great to do with kids too!

1. Foot/Bath soak

You will need:

• 6-inch square fabric scraps or coffee filters
• mint or lavender tea bags
• epsom salt
• powdered milk
• ribbon
• scissors

Put a small spoon of epsom salt and powdered milk in the middle of your fabric (or coffee filter). Cut open a tea bag and add half the contents to your fabric. Pull up the edges and wrap the ribbon tightly to seal the pouch. Tie off.

To use, just toss one little pouch into a hot bath and relax!

2. Decorative (and nice smelling) candles

You will need:

• Plain pillar candles
• coffee beans, cinnamon sticks, seashells, or whatever non-flammable decorations you want to use
• A blow-dryer

Pour the decorations you're going to use into a bowl or onto a plate. With the blow-dryer as war as it goes, carefully heat the bottom end of your candle until it is just a little soft. Roll in the decorations you chose. For extra pizzazz, tie a pretty ribbon or bit of lace around your candles.

3. Seed Tape (Great for the gardener in your life!)

You will need: 

• seeds of your favorite garden plants or flowers
• 1" wide strips of black and white newspaper
• flour
• water
• paintbrush

Mix a few tablespoons of flour with a tablespoon of water, until it makes a thick paste. With the paintbrush, put a generous dollop of the paste every few inches along the newsprint strips (however far apart the seed directions say). Drop a few seeds onto each dollop. Allow to dry. To plant, simply lay the strip down and cover with a layer of soil.

Enchanting Floral Centerpieces

Wedding flowers are expensive, no matter how simple you want to do them. For my own wedding last summer, I wanted to really go all out and be a fairy princess. Fairy princess flowers were waaaaay out of my price range. However, with a bit of time and about $70.00 at the local Dollar Tree, I made 15 of these beautiful, everlasting centerpieces.

For each one, you will need:

• 1 glass taper candle holder
• 1 glass bowl vase
• hot glue gun
• wire cutters
• floral tape
• various silk/fake flowers (I went with a central rose, some colorful filler flowers, and some decorative grass, but you can get this same look with whatever flowers you like best)
• 2 bags glass gems
• 1-2 flameless led tea lights

Step 1: Glue the bowl vase on top of the candle holder. (The one in the picture is not on a candle holder stem, but for an idea of how it looks, check here.

Step 2: Pour glass gems into bowl.

Step 3: Use wire cutters to clip fake flowers to single stems.

Step 4: Arrange your flowers in a pyramid or cone shape, starting with the central flower.

Step 5: Wrap the stems of the flowers together, covering the bottom 3 inches or so. Use the wire cutters to trim any excess and adjust length

Step 6: Turn on tea lights and place in the bowl. Place flower arrangement into bowl. Enjoy your beautiful new centerpiece!

Feel free to add decorations, play with colors, etc! Make a big, lovely bow to add!

Disney Vacation Countdown Calendar

My husband and I are going on a second honeymoon/pre-kids Disneyworld trip in the near future. With him just finishing grad school, it helps to have something to look forward to through the long New England winter. With that in mind, I made this Disney vacation countdown plaque that is decorative and fun!

I should warn, it turned out to be a longer process than anticipated.

You will need:
A castle printout, scaled to the size you want - I googled Disney castle silhouette and found a perfect one
A wooden plaque
1 sheet Black scrapbook paper (I used the glitter kind because SPARKLES!)
1 sheet Fireworks-y scrapbook paper
Scissors
Modgepodge
1/8 inch ribbon
Tape
A sample countertop card from the hardware store (with a shiny finish)
Superglue
Paintbrush
Hammer
Picture Hanger

1. Trace your printout onto the back of the black scrapbook paper. Cut out your castle.

2. Trace the shape of your wooden plaque onto the fireworks paper, leaving a 1/4 to 1/2 margin for safety.

3. Mod-podge your fireworks background onto the face of the wooden plaque. Position and mod-podge your castle in the center of that. Allow to dry.

4.  Layer a few coats of mod-podge over your whole plaque, allowing to dry in between. Be liberal. (I literally poured it on.)

5. Wrap the edge with your ribbon to finish the edges nicely. Dot with superglue every few inches to hold the ribbon in place.

6. Tie a ribbon on the countertop sample card. Glue the end to the back of the plaque.

7. Hammer the picture hanger to the back of the plaque.

8. Hang on the wall.

9. Use a dry or wet erase marker to write on the sample card.

10. Enjoy your vacation!

Bows! And how to make them

Bows are some of the most versatile decorating staples. I like to use them in flower arranging and holiday décor, but they can also be added to hats, clothing, accessories, stuffed animals, anything you want to fancy up a bit. Once you know the technique, you can make them as big or tiny as your project calls for. And those expensive pre-made bows are simple and quick to make at home for much less money! Here's how.

Materials:

Ribbon (preferably wired)

Scissors

Floral wire or thin string (even heavy thread will work)

Directions:

1. Cut your wire or string to about one foot. Set aside.
2. Leave a tail of ribbon a bit longer than you want it to be in the end.
3. Make a loop and hold the ends firmly in one hand.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Twist the ribbon where the center of the bow will be.
   
   
   
5. Make a loop on the other side. Twist. Hold firm in the middle.
6. Repeat until you have as many loops as you desire. (Don't worry about squishing the loops, you can fluff them when you're done!)
7. Cut the other ribbon tail, again, an inch or two longer than you want it to be.
8. Take your wire and lay it across the middle of the bow.
   
   
   
9. Fold it in half and twist the two ends behind the bow. It helps to fold the loops over the wire.
   
   
   
10. The most important part of this is making sure to twist the wire good and tight.
11. Fluff your bow.
    
    
    
12. Trim the ends to the desired length, giving them fancy cut ends if you so desire.
13. Ta da! Done! Use the wire ends to attach to projects or trim short if you want to glue or sew the bow onto something.
    
    
    It seems like a bunch of steps, but once you get the hang of it, you will be able to make these in a matter of minutes!
    
    

How to Make Fancy Feather Decorations

I love using feathers to decorate different craft projects. There are a ton of different fancy feathers you can buy at the craft stores, but they can get quite expensive. Instead of buying one or two of these, you can buy a bag of loose, colored feathers and make a bunch of your own, however you need them. It is very, very simple.

You will need:

Feathers
Glue
a Pin
Wax or Parchment paper
Scraps of Fabric or Felt

Step 1: Prep your materials. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper on your work surface. (This will prevent the project from sticking, and will peel off without leaving schmutz behind). Lay out your feathers, pour a small amount of glue into the corner of the paper.

Step 2: Form the base. Pick a long, strong feather to be the backbone of your project. Use your pin to apply a line of glue to the stem of it. (The pin will help you be very precise and not use gobs of glue).

Step 3: Lay your feathers on. Layer feathers in a zigzag, one pointing one way, the next pointing the other, applying glue to the stems as you go until the decoration is the size and shape you desire.

Step 4: Build a stem. Use a few small feathers, doused with a bit of extra glue, and lay them at the base, building a stem for your decoration.

Step 5: Let the feathers dry completely.

Step 6: Peel the decoration from the paper. It should come off easily.

Step 7: Wrap the stem. Apply glue to the back side of of the fabric or felt, and wrap around the stem of the decoration. Allow to dry. Trim off the very bottom, so it is nice and clean. This wrapping will allow you to sew or pin your feathers to whatever project you want with ease.

Here is a finished one I used to fancy up a fascinator hat.

 

Here is another that is a bit more streamlined and sleek, that I used to decorate for a black and blues party.

Happy Crafting!!