Tag Archives: Gift

50 Jar Gifts: idea #5 – Mason Jar Sewing Kit

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image from It All Started with Paint

This is a fun and practical idea. If you love to sew or if you have an ancestor who loved to sew this gift would be a great opportunity to share that love along with your family’s stories. Do you have a stash of buttons? The pincushion jar would be a good way to share buttons. You could also share any stories connected with those buttons. Did they come from a favorite piece of clothing or a certain family member? I inherited a bunch of spools of thread from my grandmother. The would be great in a jar like this. Hopefully the image below get your creative juices going.

image from It All Started With Paint

image by Frugalcious Me

craft Jar of Whimsies by Phizzychick! on Flickr

image from bystephanielynn.com

image from My Lovely Inspirations

image from julieoldcrow.com click for tutorial

image from dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.com

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos6

50 Jar Gifts: idea #4 – Decoupage

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image from plaidonline.com

I did lots of decoupage when I was growing up on boards but I never thought of doing it on a jar. You can find step by step directions here.

Plaid also has another tutorial on decoupaging jars here. This example doesn’t include a photograph. You can decoupage all kinds of things including leaves and fabric. Enjoy the examples below. I hope they inspire you.

another decoupage idea from plaidonline.com

Garden Decoupaged Quart Mason Jar Girls In Pink Solar Light by CarlaRaeVintage on Etsy

image from you-dont-have-to-say-you-love-me.blogspot.com

image from Julia Hull Library

image from thecreativeplace.blogspot.com
click image for tutorial

image from kristanlynn.com
tutorial on decoupaging jar lids

One advantage of decoupage is that copies work great. You don’t need to use the originals. I can image making copies of love letters between my grandparents along with their photos and mixing them together to make a lovely keepsake of them. Maybe tuck a story inside about their courtship and a treat to eat while reading the story.

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos5

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50 Jar Gifts: idea #3 – Sands of Time

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image from indulgy.com

I think this idea is awesome. It is a beautiful way to remember your travels The different colors of sand are so beautiful and varied. You can also collect pebbles and rocks. I also like the idea of writing on the rocks. Here are a bunch of examples.

jars with sand and pebbles, etc. from different places from themagnoliamom.blogspot.com

image from interiordesigning.net

image from savvysugar.com

image from blog.kandrac-kole.com

What I’d really like to do is collect rocks and/or dirt from different places in my family’s history. Wouldn’t it be cool to go back to England where my great-great grandma, Mary Taylor was born and collect some soil. Then trace her journey to the west, stopping at key points along the way to collect more sample. Layered in a jar with labels of some kind and maybe a mini book to explain the importance of each place. With the power of the internet it would probably be possible to find people who live in each of those areas to gather what I’d need and ship them to me. The trip would be more fun but it isn’t in my budget in the near future.

dirt from places around the country
image from Sarah Wiley Joyce

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos4

50 Jar Gifts: idea #2 – Year in a Jar

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Year in a Jar By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the blog A Geek In Glasses via ThinkCrafts.com

Here is a fun and simple way to help someone collect their memories for the coming year. All you need is a jar, a photo and vinyl numbers or another way to add the year to the jar. Then as they year goes by they drop those little things they collect from their days into the jar. At the end of the year it is like a little time-capsule. ThinkCrafts.com has detailed instructions on how to make this jar gift.jar gift logos3

image from thinkcrafts.com

image from journeychic.com

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos3

50 Jar Gifts: idea #1 – Memories in a Jar

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by Kendra Steel

I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it was the perfect way to kick off my 50 Doable Jar Gift Ideas for 2013. Uploaded by Kendra Steel, I love the idejar gift logos2a of capturing the memories of a trip to the beach in a bottle with a photo, sand and a few shells. It is easy to imagine other trips or memories that this idea could be applied to. A camping trip with some dirt, rocks, sticks and pine cones would work. A memorable walk on a beautiful autumn day with acorns and colorful leaves. A ski trip with fake snow, ski passes and other memorabilia. Think of a memory you would like to share and see what you can come up with. Here are some more ideas to get you started.

image via Yasmine Kaissi

image via Karin

image via jonni kilgore

image from http://www.CrazyWanderlust.com

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos2

50 Gift Ideas: Tips & Tricks

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Before we start posting this year’s gift ideas I wanted to share a great tip I found today on how to get the gunk off your jars without stinky chemical. If you are using canning jars this isn’t a jar gift logosproblem but if you are recycling jars (which is a great idea) than it can be a major pain to get the paper and glue off the jars. But Creek Line House has a great step by step on getting the gunk of just using baking soda and oil. Here is the tutorial.

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50 Gift Ideas: 2013 Edition

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jar gift logosI had so much fun last year coming up with 50 gift ideas that help in telling your family’s tales that I decided to do it again this year. At least I’m going to try. Last year was inspired by my 50 for 50 challenge for the year. So since this year I’ve done my Joy Jar I decided that all 50 gift ideas would have something to do with jars. I have a few ideas and I’ve started a board on Pintrest to gather more ideas. The challenge will be getting all 50 ideas put together by Christmas. It isn’t going to be easy but I really want to take on this challenge.

Do you have any favorite jar gift ideas that you want to share?

Story Prompts: update

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Prototype for My Story Prompt Jar

I got some more work done on my story prompts jar idea today. I’m really excited how it is coming together. I used the great questions from StoryCorps.org. Instead of printing the questions on card stock I got some chipboard. My new printer can handle really thick paper so I thought I’d give it a try. I was inspired by tongue depressors and the idea that with the colored tips you can keep track of which questions you have done by flipping them over.

I still have some work to do to clean things up and tweak the pages some. I also what to design a simple journal to go with the jar as a gift. When I get the files finished I’ll share them here.

Story Prompts

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I’ve been thinking for the last few weeks about coming up with a gift idea for weddings and showers etc. Something that would be meaningful and yet not take tons of time or tons of money to put together. My best idea to date is story prompt jars. I haven’t gotten very far on the idea but I thought I’d share what I have so far.

Using the great questions from StoryCorps.org, I’m working on laying them out in sheets that I’ll cut into little cards. Hopefully I can add some color and fun to the sheets. Then I’ll put the cards in to jars. Maybe just a simple canning jar or maybe something a bit fancier. I’ll have to experiment and see what works.

I think any family could benefit from asking each other questions at the dinner table or a more formal gathering. This maybe what I give for Christmas this year. I’ll keep you posted with photos etc. as I progress. I’m thinking I will share a pdf of the finished question cards so you could make your own story prompt jars.

Have you used story prompts? I’d love to hear your experiences.

 

My 2013 Calendar

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I got my 2013 Calendar finished last week. Now I’m finally getting around to posting about it. It evolved during the process and although I’m happy with the results it isn’t what I thought it would be when I started. I thought I would do something that could be printed in black and white but in the end it looked better with the colored backgrounds. I wish I had made the backgrounds myself but I didn’t. I didn’t have enough time for that. It was fun working with paper a pencil and I think I’ll find reason to mix some more of that in with all the computer stuff in the future. Feel free to make copies of the calendar for your personal use. I hope you have a great year in 2013.

2013 Calendar PDF