Repurposed Jam Jar

We had a lot of sweets left over from our halloween party, so I thought today I'll decorate an empty jam jar that we can use to store at least some of them sweeties. :)

Here's the before:

I didn't even remove most of the label glue or left-over labels.

I tore up a piece of mulberry paper and decopuaged it all over the jar and the lid, and added 2 coats of varnish over it.  I glued on a butterfly and took 3 pieces of ribbon, plaited them together and tied it around the jar and glued 2 beads on the ends of the ribbon.

 

Now it's got a neat little home on top of one of our dvd cabinets.

Mmmmmm......Nut Puffs.......

Linky Parties linked to:

I Heart Nap Time               A Vision to Remember
Truly Lovely                       . 

Also posted here:

GGCAA   .


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Cake in a Jar Gift

My gran invited us over for dinner tomorrow night, so instead of buying the usual flowers or chocolates, I made this cute little cake in a jar gift:

It's a jar that we had left over from our wedding favours (I still have a few of these left).  I have this 5 minute chocolate cake recipe that I love, so that's what's inside the bottle - I layered the dry ingredients, and she'll just have to add the wet ingredients.
I decorated the bottle with a rose and some leaves (also what I've kept from the wrapping of a wedding gift we received):

I printed the recipe instructions on plain paper, cut it out, coloured the edges with an ink pad, and stuck it onto patterned card stock, which I cut out with fancy scissors:

And tied it to the jar with a ribbon from my scrap ribbon stash:

Cute, huh?! :D

And for those who want this quick and easy single serving microwave chocolate cake recipe, here it is:
4 tbs cake flour
4 tbs sugar
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 egg
3tbs milk
3tbs oil
Mix well and microwave for 3 minutes on high.

YUM!! :)

LINKY PARTIES linked to:

Making The World Cuter
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Truly Lovely
Mom's Crazy Cooking
A Vision To Remember 
I'm Topsy Turvy                                                      .

Cute "Jar of Nothing" Tutorial

Inspired by Craft Bits, I decided to make my own cute version of this jar. My mum's b'day is tomorrow and I thought this is perfect, because she said (as usual) that she wants nothing for her b'day. :D  (The real gifts will follow after this funny one though).


So here we go, my first tutorial!

How's this for the cutest "Nothing" gift ever?! :D

Here are the supplies that you'll need:

1.)   Glass jar
2.)   "Nothing" printed on white paper
3.)   Fancy scissors
4.)   Sticker maker
5.)   Raffia (later I added purple organza ribbon as well to match the b'day card I was giving this with)
6.)   Ink pad

For the beaded decoration, you'll need the following supplies:

1.)   Pliers, round nose pliers and wire cutter
2.)   2 head pins
3.)   Beads of your choice - I used 7 round gold beads and 3 nickel spacers

Start by cutting out your printed label with fancy scissors.  Then scrape the edges of the label along your ink pad to give the label a nice finishing touch:

Put your label through your sticker maker, then stick it onto the bottle:

Take 3 strands of raffia (plus a ribbon if you wish to add some more colour), and roll and twist them together:

Tie it around the neck of the bottle with a double knot.  Don't cut off the excess raffia yet.   Now it's time to add the bead decorations.

Take a head pin and add the beads.  Once the beads are on, take the pliers and bend the wire to a right angle:

Then grab the short piece of wire before the bend with the pliers, and bend it a little back towards you:

Cut off the extra wire with the wire cutters:

Then use the round nose pliers and bend the wire around (towards the left on the pic) to form a loop, so that the free end of the wire meets back at the point where the wire exits the last bead:

Do the same with the other head pin and beads:

Now take the round nose pliers, open the loop slightly, and attach it to the raffia beneath the knot.  Close the loop again:

Now make a third knot with the raffia to secure it tightly:

Cut off the excess raffia (and ribbon), and that's it!  :)

LINKY PARTIES linked to:

Fireflies And Jellybeans (Tutorials)
Chic On A Shoestring Decorating
It's a Hodgepodge Life
A Few Of My Favorite Things
It's A Blog Party
Making The World Cuter

Crafty Recycling - Glass jars & bead netting

I just can't throw away empty glass bottles, there's so many things one can do with them!  Like using them as storage for pens, pencils, paint brushes, rulers etc.  Here I've decorated some jars with bead netting.  They make cute gifts too, filled with things like sweets, chocolates or coffee, or fill it up with beach sand from your vacation, decorate the lid with a beach theme and use it as a paperweight. 

LINKY PARTIES linked to:

It's A Hodgepodge Life