Jar Lanterns

Spring is in the air. If you live in a colder climate like me, perhaps you're ready to spend some more time outdoors.

I have been looking for just the right inexpensive outdoor candle lanterns for some time. I was searching for something that had a protective cover, so the inside of the lantern wouldn't get dirty from outdoor debris if I left it outside.

Then these applesauce jars caught my eye.

Why not?

With young children we go through quite a bit of applesauce. It seems such a waste to put nice jars in the recycling bin, but I never had a good idea of how to use them. Until now.

I scraped the labels off with a razor.

Then grabbed some oil rubbed bronze spray paint for the lids.

A couple quick sprays is all it took. I "borrowed" some sand from my kids' sandbox and added some votive candles.

Now to enjoy the evening light.

They go quite nicely with my wine bottle vase, don't you think? ha! And they'd be easy to "jazz up" (if that's your thing) with twine, or you could etch something on there. Or just leave them plain. I think they're pretty as is!

Are you working on anything outdoors for spring?

Linking to some of these great parties.

Now go make something!

A Juvenile Sense of Humor

More Mom Cave projects! Woo hoo! It's really coming along.

Quick question for anyone who has a preschooler/toddler, or knows a preschooler/toddler.

Besides "No", what is the one word you hear most in a day?

For this project, I picked up some white letters at Joann. They were on sale. I spent $6 for 4.

A couple quick coats with Mediterranean Valspar spray paint, and hung with Command Strips let's everyone know this space is...

MINE!

It's mine! Mineminemineminemine!

ha!

Have a good one.

Linking to some of these great parties.

Now go make something!

Easy Peasy Scarves

I have no clue why, but the boys LOVE to play with my scarves. SCARVES! They use them to dress up, but they also become snakes, tow straps, and all sorts of weird boy things.

Most of the time I don't care if they play with my scarves, but sometimes they get a little dirty being drug all over the floor (yeah, yeah. I should clean more often). After I spotted this tutorial on Hi Sugarplum, I thought it'd be perfect if they had their own scarves.

I let the boys pick out their own fleece patterns, and bought just 9 inches (one quarter yard) of each of four patterns. I think the the total was about $6.50.



They LOVE their new scarves. Since we've made them they've taken them with them everywhere--even to bed at night (not around their necks, of course. They won't strangle themselves in the night).

One tip about the scarves. The fleece I bought was on 60 inch (5 ft) bolts, so obviously it makes a 60 inch scarf. I think it's a little short for an adult--although perfect for kids. I measured a nearly identical fleece scarf I have from Old Navy, and it's actually 6 ft long. I'd consider buying 2 yards (6ft) of fleece and cutting them the opposite way if you are going to make scarves for adults. Of course that means you'll have 6 scarves of the same pattern, which if you're making them for gifts is not necessarily a bad thing.

Did all that make sense? I'll illustrate.

Happy scarf-making!

Teacher Gift

Since my oldest only just started preschool, this whole school thing is new to me. And at the last minute I panicked--I need to get a teacher gift. What to get, what to get.

I made them (the teacher and the assistant, both women) felt flowers. Felt flowers again! I can't help it I think they're so lovely. And so I made a third for myself.

I made them in cream. So beautiful for winter, don't you think?

A new addition is a hair clip on the back. So you can pin it or clip it.

Here are the pins and clips I used. I just hand sewed them on before gluing it together.

Ahhh. Lovely.

The original tutorial I used is found here.

Linking to some of these great parties.

A Penny Saved...

... is one less knick knack to buy!

Do you spend your change or save it? I'm a change spender. Mr. RBR is a change saver. I recently went through his old plastic change jar and fished out all the silver. But what the heck am I going to do with all these pennies, I thought.

TA DA!

I got these large canning jars quite awhile ago off freecycle. What's freecycle, you ask? It's a forum where people want to get rid of stuff--FOR FREE. Find out if there's one for your area. People get rid of all kinds of stuff. One time I got a free pregnancy test, just a few blocks away. I walked there with the boys in a double stroller and got it out of some woman's mailbox (the place where she said I could get it). Weird, huh? But fun too.

Was that too weird of a story to share? I used to be a pregnancy test addict. I've taken hundreds. I don't know how I got from canning jars to pregnancy tests anyway. Oh right. Freecycle.

Anyway...

So that is how I got 5 large canning jars. For free. It makes a much nicer container than what they were in originally. Add a label and you have a cute accessory... and a place for spare change to land.

I stuck the label on there with my favorite spray adhesive, 3M Super 77, but you could decoupage, or double stick tape it, or whatever floats your boat.

Here's the label in case you'd like to make your own. Happy crafting!

Linking to some of these parties.

This project was featured on Beyond the Picket Fence.