Blessings Jar Tutorial

Supplies for this project consisted of one square one quart jar, spray adhesive, crafter's glue or fabric glue, colored paint markers, half a yard of fabric, lace trim, rubber bands, and wooden embellishments. I purchased the jar at Walmart for about $4.00. You could use a smaller or larger jar but I didn't want to use the smaller jar because I didn't think there would be enough space to fill it with mementos over the course of one year and I chose not to do the larger jar because I wanted it to be easy to display in a kitchen or on a table and this size seemed  just right. The rest of the supplies were purchased at a craft store.

I spent way too much time in Joann'es picking out just the right fabric for each family member but that was the best part about the project. 

I began by playing with the placement of the fabric to see what looked right where. I didn't need to realize my chicken was upside down on one side after I had already glued on the fabric. After playing around with placement I put a rubber band around the top of the glass over the fabric and positioned the fabric exactly how I wanted it to lay.   

I then cut all the excess fabric to just above the top of the lid so it would fan out a bit. I then took off the rubber band let the fabric fall while still keeping the jar centered. I removed the lid and sprayed almost the entire jar with a light coating being careful not to spray where the lid goes on. I put the rubber band back on and stuck on my fabric on. 

 I then put the finishing touches on. I used lace around the top of the jar and  added a wooden sign that said Blessings to the front of my jar.

 On the opposite side of my blessings sign I glued on a pouch to keep papers and a pen so that people could write down their happy thoughts and memories without having to search for pen and paper. To make the pouch I just took the remaining fabric and glued the two sides to make a pouch, added some lace and glued that onto the jar with crafter's glue. You could also use fabric glue. I then cut up parchment paper into squares and put them in the pouch with a pen.

For the final step I wrote up a message and attached it to the lid with removable tape. 

Have family and friends fill this jar

with blessed and happy thoughts

memories, quotes, pictures

and things throughout the year.

Then next Christmas

as you all gather near

open the jar and smile

as you recall the happy moments 

you held so dear!

HAVE A BLESSED 2013!

Other Blessing Jars

This project is so versatile you could customize it to fit any occasion. 

* Blessings Jar

* The Jar of Thankfulness - Can be filled with what you are thankful for throughout the year and read with

   loved ones at Thanksgiving.

* The Jar of Positive Thoughts - People fill the jar with positive thoughts, can be used in an office, home, 

   classroom, anywhere. When the mood seems negative pull out a happy thought.

* 101 Happy Thoughts - Fill the jar with happy thoughts to be read whenever a lift in spirits is needed.

* Memory Jar - specific to a vacation, holiday, or event 

* Anniversary - The jar could be filled with memories, pictures, quotes, etc. documenting the couples life

   together.

* Wedding - Each guest could put in a happy thought or memory about the bride and groom.

* Baby Shower or Baby Gift - You could decorate the jar with the child's name or just do a baby theme if  

   the sex is not known, then the jar can be filled by guests with memories about the parent's, parenting tips,   

   quotes, mementos from the shower, pregnancy, birth.The jar could also be used to collect memories,

   thoughts, pictures, mementos of the babies first year for him or her to have later. Similar to keeping a baby

   book.  

* Bridal Shower - Guests can write down memories, tips, quotes for a successful and happy marriage, 

   photo's, mementos of the relationship.

* Teacher Gift - Students can put in happy thoughts, issues within the classroom, etc..

Please let me know your ideas and pics of your own blessings jars. Happy crafting!

Well Christmas has come and gone once again, but it was a very blessed holiday indeed. One of the best I have experienced in many years. This is the first year my four year old understood the magic and joy that is Christmas. It was amazing as a parent to sit back and watch the wonder in my child's eyes when he saw Santa for the first time. That was truly the highlight of my holiday.

I was a crafting fool this Christmas. I made a personalized gift for each person on my list. It certainly made the gift giving that much more exciting. For me the best part about Christmas is watching others open their gifts. I love to see the smiles and joy.

My theme this year was warmth, happiness, and blessings for the New Year. I purchased soft blankets for each person on my list and then crafted a personalized gift to go with the warm blanket. I already had the warmth part of my theme covered with the blankets, now I just needed to work on the happiness and blessings part of my theme. When my family spends time together we like to open a bottle of wine or enjoy our favorite spirits so for the happiness part of my theme I made personalized coasters for everyone to set their favorite drink on. I also made a piggy bank out of a growler to save up for the fine wine and spirits, and of course to cover the blessings part of my theme and my personal favorite of all the gifts, I made blessings jars for everyone. I got the idea from a post from a friend on Facebook about a memory jar. It was very simple, just a jar that was filled with happy thoughts memories, pictures, and assorted items throughout the year. I decided to take that idea and make it my own. The end product turned out better than I could have hoped and was received with smiles and joy.

Tutorials of how I created each of my DIY Christmas gifts are posted below if you are interested.