Most households have glass jars of some sort in the cupboard such as pasta or curry sauce jars. It seems a shame just to throw them away so here are some fab glass jar crafts ideas to put your empty jars to good use. We love a bit of upcycling!
Before you start any of these crafts you’ll need to remove the label from the jar. Sometimes simply soaking it in warm soapy water is enough for it to come off clean. If there is some glue residue left though it can be tough to remove. Have a go at mixing 1 part cooking oil with 1 part baking soda and smother it over the glue residue. Leave it for a few minutes then it should scrub off clean.
Painted Jars
Jane at Hodge Podge days has suggested painting them to make pretty tealight lanterns. The possibilities with this are endless. You could do so many fab designs! They’d look great out in the garden during those long-awaited summer evenings. Here is her post with the list of what you need: Glass Painting
Gratitude Jar
Kerry from Blissful Domestication made these lovely gratitude jars with her kids. I think this is a great way to teach children how to be thankful for the things they have and to have a positive mindset. You could do this as a New Year activity where they decorate the jars and put slips of paper in with things they are grateful for throughout the year. Then on New Years Eve open the jar up and see all the things you’ve been grateful for. Here’s Kerry’s blog post on how she made them: Gratitude Jar
Glass Gem Lantern
Sarah from Craft Invaders made these beautiful lanterns by sticking glass gems around the outside of her jar. It looks so pretty! You could use different coloured gems to match the decor in your room or I think a rainbow coloured one would look amazing! I love the way the coloured gems shine when it’s lit up. Don’t forget to buy some battery powered tea lights to put inside. You can find her instructions on how to make it here: Glass Gem Lantern
Summer Votive
Jenny from The Gingerbread House made a lovely summer votive with her kids and suggested they would also make a lovely Father’s Day gift too. Let the kids imaginations run wild when they design their picture to wrap around the jar. Then light it up using a tealight to bring it to life! You can see what Jenny’s kids came up with here: Summer Votives
Tissue Paper Lanterns
Maggy from Red Ted Art has some fab ideas for glass jars. I love the way she has used tissue paper left over from gifts and flowers to create these lovely summer lantern designs. The Halloween ones are very cool too!! Here’s how to make them: Tissue Paper Lanterns
Mermaid Lanterns
These mermaid jars over on Maggy’s website are one of my favourites. How fab do they look?! I bet there’s lots of little girls who would love making these. Here are the instructions and printable template: Mermaid Lanterns
Snowglobes
One last one from Maggy at Red Ted Art (seriously her website is full of amazing ideas so go have a good browse – you’ll love it!) is this fab snowglobe idea using kids toys. Maggy has made them using My Little Pony toys but you could use any of your children’s favourite characters. Add some glitter and you could also put a little food colouring too if you want to make it colourful! Here’s how to make your own: Snowglobes
For lots more great craft ideas make sure you are following us on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/mumof2point5
If you have any other ideas please let me know in the comments below!
