UPCYCLING: Storage Jars with Mod Podge Knobs

One can never have enough storage jars in my opinion. I’ve been saving up jars and love how these bright and cheery jars turned out. They’re the perfect size for smaller pantry items.

ETCETERAS: Picnic Glass with Mod Podge

With the beautiful warm weather we’ve been experiencing, it’s no wonder I’m thinking about summer and picnics. I spied some fun picnic theme paper napkins at the market and grabbed a pack.

CELEBRATIONS: Painted Bride & Groom Wedding Favors

I’ve had this idea for wedding favors in my mind for a few years now but never made them. It wasn't until recently that I found the right size plastic bride and groom figurines and could barely contain my excitement. I grabbed the pack of tiny cheap poorly painted figurines and threw them into my basket.

Upcycling: Make Up Jars with Marble Knobs

I have such an easy project for you today but I loved how these turned out. Use upcycled or recycled containers and add a marble knob.

WELL-ORGANIZED: Upcycled Jars to Spice Jars

I’m still getting organized. I suspect it’s going to take me all year and by that time it will be time to start all over again. You know, declutter, organize, rinse, repeat. While I was storing bins in the garage, I discovered I had saved several pasta sauce jars that all matched. Hooray for matchy-matchy!

ETCETERAS: DIY Faux Sea Glass Jars

Hello friends! It’s unofficially officially summer. Once the 3-day Memorial Day weekend has passed we can start wearing white, flip flops and of course start breaking out the starfish, shells and sea glass.

ETCETERAS: Springtime Sea Glass from Recycled Bottles

I’ve been saving up my little salsa jars because I love the shape and the little chevron pattern at the top of the bottles.

SHOW & TELL: Chalkboard Labels with hometalk & Michaels

Friends… you know when a bunch of really good things come together, well, this is one of those events. Combine: Michaels, hometalk & Pinterest and you get one amazing party.

INKLING: Lifestyle Crafts Wood Labels {& A Giveaway}

Die Cut, Letterpress, Emboss… oh my! I’m super excited to share this with you. I’m on the Lifestyle Crafts Home and Organization Studio Design Team. I have a giant love of paper and paper crafting and have been wanting to challenge myself by making more detailed and intricate paper projects.

I’ll be slowly learning how to use the Lifestyle Crafts tools and I can’t wait to share all my projects with you. I hope you’ll enjoy learning how to die cut, letterpress and emboss with me. Look for projects specific to Lifestyle Crafts and We R Memory Keepers once or twice a month.

I also have a fun giveaway to celebrate this new venture. Details are at the bottom of the post.

Etceteras: DIY Faux Amber Glass

I wanted to add some pops of color to my fall décor and thought some amber colored glass would be the perfect accent. You  have probably seen many variations of coloring glass jars on craft sites and blogs. I’ve tried several methods and my favorite technique is using food coloring and Mod Podge.

Etceteras: mason jar mania

I was so thrilled to be asked to curate a clipboard for Hometalk. Are you familiar with Hometalk? Hometalk is an online community where homeowners, renters and pros share and help with home & gardening. You can ask questions, get inspired and post your own projects.

Little Craft: piggy piggy bank

Using plastic animal in crafts have been very popular for awhile now. I created some jars a few years and I’ve seen some fun and creative projects on Pinterest.

Etceteras: fabric covered storage jars

Some craft supplies are too pretty to tuck away in bins and drawers. I love looking at my vintage buttons and scraps of lace and ribbon so I like to keep them in jars.

Etceteras: shell souvenir jars

Summer is winding down and beach, pool or outdoor days will soon be over. Every summer we try to get to the beach as much as possible and at the end of summer we wish we had gone more.


I’ve always collected shells along the beach and used them for projects here and there and then tucked the rest of them away. This year I decided to display them in little jars.

I wanted a weathered vintage look for this jar and went to work “rusting” the lid. 

One of the fastest ways to rust metal is with vinegar. This jar lid had a brushed gold look so I sanded it with fine sandpaper to remove the gold layer. To start the rusting process, soak your lid in vinegar – I left mine in for about an hour. Place the lid on a paper towel so it’s exposed to air. The combination of oxygen and the acid in the vinegar will start the oxidation process. The photos above show the jar lid before the vinegar, at one hour, two hours and the next day.


I found this broken sand dollar and it’s too fragile to put in one of the jars. So I just placed it on a small glass tile. It’s rare around here to find an unbroken sand dollar and I love this one even if it isn’t perfect.


Every summer our last beach day is spent with a group of friends. It’s a symbolic end-of-summer tradition and I’d love to have more of these tubes filled with shells for years to come.


If you don’t live near the beach, you can make summer souvenir jars with other items. Pebbles, sand, or other bits of nature that have meaning.

I feel very lucky to live so close to the beach. Do you have a favorite summer spot? I’d love to hear how you like to make your summer special.

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

I link at the wonderful parties listed here and

 

Upcycling: silver animal jars

I'm taking a break from all the holiday projects. I wanted to make something fun and whimsical and these definitely fit the bill - plus they can be used for decorating or organizing.

Many of you may have seen the fantastic, colorful painted animal jars {photo above} that have made their way around the craft blogs and Pinterest. They’re from House to Home and have been featured many, many times. 

Like many of you, I fell in love with these adorable jars and decided to make my own grown up versions. I used smaller jars that were originally sample make up and lotions. The animals are the cheap plastic toy animals that can be found at local discount stores or dollar stores. I used a sheep, pig and cow from a farmyard set.  

For the pig and sheep, I used Martha Stewart Multi-Surface Metallic paint in Sterling.

The original lettering on my jars wouldn’t come off so I wrapped embroidery floss around the jars and painted the floss in the matching silver paint. Of course it would be easier if you have silver embroidery floss which I didn’t.

For the cow, I used Folk Art Enamels Glitter paint in Silver. 

I’m planning on using these jars to organize a few of my supplies like beads and paper clips. There’s something about these little animals that are just irresistible and they’ll be fun to look at everyday.

This project is entered at

Etceteras: cranberry glass

I am obsessed with painted glass bottles and jars. I have seen so many beautiful projects lately; simple spray painted bottles, white paint inside of the glass resulting in a milk glass effect and Mod Podge and blue food coloring inside of the glass which makes beautiful sea glass.

I decided to try to make cranberry glass. True cranberry glass is an art and the glass is typically hand blown.  My cranberry glass is made from everyday jars.

I used the Mod Podge method to make these. The amount you need will depend on the size of your jar. To make the largest jar, I used:

• 2 Tbsp of Gloss Lustre Mod Podge
• 1-2 tsp water
• 2 drops blue food coloring
• 3 drops red food coloring

Mix your ingredients and pour into your jar. Swirl the mixture around and continue swirling as you pour the mixture out. Make sure the entire inside of the jar is coated. Most of the tutorials now say to place your jar upside down on newspaper or wax paper and to wipe the opening of the jar every now and then. I found that the Mod Podge pools and makes a huge messy clump around the top of the jar. I came up with these drying racks made out of strawberry baskets.

Note the color of the Mod Podge – as it dries it becomes darker and translucent. I used varying amounts of food color to get the three different colors on my jars.

I embellished the jars because the color wasn’t quite even around the neck of the jar where the Mod Podge dried thicker.  

 

The jars are purely decorative. Because Mod Podge is waterbase, you can’t fill these with water and use them as vases.

Tips: I’ve tried this project a few times and here’s what I’ve learned.

1. Some tutorials say you can use white glue but I found that the Mod Podge works better.
2. The more water you add the more translucent your result will be. Too much water and the glass will not coat evenly.
3. Make sure the inside of the jar is very clean or the Mod Podge will not adhere correctly.
4. Be patient – don’t touch the inside before it’s completely dry. Trust me on this…

And if you’re not happy with your results, soak your jars in water and start over.



Etceteras: summer beach jars

Summer décor can mean many different things depending on where you live. For me, nothing says summer like the beach.

To bring a touch of the beach inside, I dressed up these plain glass sugar jars that I found at the dollar store with different beach-themed items.

 

I made a wire hanger and used the same white cotton twine for all of the jars. For the lantern, I strung mother of pearl flat beads around the rim and added a votive candle for outside dining.

Note: Some glass cannot withstand the heat of the candle. I have read that you should put the candle in an actual votive holder and then place it inside your homemade lantern. Also, place baking soda or sand at the bottom of the jar to help reduce the risk of fire.

I borrowed a pretty shell from my son’s “found” shell collection to make a simple and pretty vase.

Ocean-blue sea glass around the rim of this jar makes a nice candle holder that can be used as centerpiece.

   

I love having touches of my summer favorites here and there. How are you decorating for summer?



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