Altered Jar by Shannon Morgan using Thumbelina Collection from Piggy Tales
I altered a mason jar. I buy candles off etsy and I can't bear to throw away the jars...and this year I came up with an unique idea for teacher gifts for my kiddos. :)
First step, you take a clean mason jar. Since every mason jar is different....your measurements are going to be different as well. I measured a 3" wide by 11 3/4" inch strip of "Little Fishes". I distressed and inked it and then I adhered it to the jar using craft glue.
After you have covered your jar -- you can begin to work out the details.....what kind of jar is this? A storage jar? A gift jar for someone? Maybe you're covering a candle and making it personal....whatever it is, make sure it conveys the message you're trying to send! I again love to work with chipboard, it helps add dimension and you shape it into whatever you need. I asked Patrick what he thought Ms. Ash his teacher would love at the start of this project....he let me know she loved red, and ladybugs and butterflies and he thought she like hearts...because..."she's a girl and ALL girls like hearts, right Mom?" with a roll of his eye.....and so I put it all together and came up with the following. I free handed a few different hearts and a few different letters. I wanted to make it really personal, so I included her first name initial. I settled on one I liked....it's a lower case e, but the picture I'm sharing with you will show an uppercase e.....the point I want to make is that you CAN freehand and you can do it!
Once you've cut out your chipboard and covered it (I used "Field Mouse" for the heart and "Bird" for the "e") -- it's time to add all the details. I added a doily to my heart....using the "Toad" paper from the Thumbelina collection....I adhered the heart to the paper and then used a fine point Sharpie to make the "doily"....I then cut out the scallops of the doily and once it was all cut out - I used two different sized hole punches. I then outlined the holes with the fine point Sharpie. I adhered the heart to the jar using craft glue as a base and added a few pop dots in the back so that it had more stability.
I then added the "e" using pop dots and PigTails. It was the perfect way to adhere the "e" giving it free movement and dimension!
It seemed like it still needed something -- and so I thought rub-ons! I love the Thumbelina rub-ons because they transfer so smoothly and they have a great finish. I transferred the butterfly onto the backside of Toad and then I added the heart from the rub-ons as well. After hand cutting and outlining....I used pop dots to snuggle it in between the heart and the "e".
I then worked on the lid, first tracing the lid onto "Toad" -- cutting it out, inking and distressing, and finally adhering to the lid. But, what to do about the rest? Well that's easy.....I accordion folded 2 thin strips of "Field Mouse" and then stretched them out just enough for them to have look like an accordion, and glued a good 1/2" to an inch to the lid and then used glue dots throughout to adhere the rest of the folds to the lid.
I then filled the lid with summertime goodies, a few tubes of lip balm, a mini-sunblock, 2 packs of Ms. Ash's favorite gum & a Target Gift Card! Patrick also included a special note and we rolled it up and tied it with some ribbon. Enjoy! I hope I have inspired you to create something beautiful!