DIY: "Boo" Candy Jars

This is the inspiration picture of apothecary jars from the ladies at Uncommon (link to my inspiration).

Their inspiration was Shanty 2 Chic. I only used this blog for their shopping list:  Americana Lamp (Ebony) Black acrylic paint, Gorilla glue, unfinished wooden letters, unfinished wooden candle sticks, 3 unfinished wooden finials, 3 medium sized wooden base circles, and 3 medium sized glass canisters. Unfortunately, I could not find the candlesticks or finials at Hobby Lobby. =(  This caused me to use some major creative thinking, something I generally lack. Here is what I ended up pulling together for my materials.

I got just about everything half off at Hobby Lobby. I bought 3 glass canisters for $4.67 each; they weren't on sale. The letters were $2.99 each. The paint was  $0.99. The Gorilla Glue was $4.99 (& I'm sure I'll use it in many more projects to come). The black ribbon was $1.99, red gingham check ribbon was $5.99, and the black gingham check ribbon was $3.99. The beads were all things that my mom had around the house. Here's a closer look.

The candlesticks were my big splurge and thankfully they were half off. The tall one ended up costing me $15, the medium one $10, and the small one $7. They are all the same except for their heights. Here is a closer look at the detail on the candlesticks.

I understand that this project ended up costing me a lot more than I anticipated but I promise, the end result makes it soooo worth it. If you noticed the letters I bought, I can spell "BOO" or "JOY" so this is a project that will be used for 2 holidays. And if I take off the letters, I'm sure I can find plenty of uses for this as normal/seasonal decor. 

OK, now on to the steps to make the fabulous-ness that I am now obsessed with. =)

Step 1. Remove the labels from the bottom of the glass canisters. I found a pin on Pinterest that suggested rubbing alcohol and cotton balls.

Nothing happened!! Maybe I was impatient and didn't give it enough time to soak. I don't care. To me, rubbing alcohol didn't work. Then, my brother (shocker) suggested WD-40. He told me to let it soak a couple minutes then the sticker would come off with no glue residue left behind.

Don't tell him I said so but, my brother was right. Perfect removal of the price sticker and it's glue. You can see the sticker remains of my first attempt with the rubbing alcohol. So annoying. Trust me, go straight to the WD-40.

Step 2. Paint the lids of the canisters and the letters with the black acrylic paint. 

This is just a picture of everything I needed to paint. I didn't prep any of them.

The lids needed 3 coats of paint for me to be satisfied. They probably would have been ok after 2 coats but I still saw some brush strokes. There were still some lines after 3 coats but not as bad to me. 

I painted all the surfaces of the letters in case they get flipped around. Ok ok, it was because my OCD side couldn't stand to have the front & sides black but not the back. 

Step 4: Glue the canisters to the candlesticks. I put Gorilla glue around the entire top of the candlesticks and then placed the canisters on top. The glue recommends clamping your items together for 30-60 minutes to ensure full adhesion. I stuck 2 novels & a 5 or 10 pound weight on top of each of mine. =) (The novels I used were Harry Potter & Twilight books. They are wonderful & must reads.) 

Since it was midnight, I ended up just going to bed; therefore, my Gorilla Glue got 10 hours of time with the heavy weight on top. When I woke up the next morning, I used a exacto knife and trimmed the Gorilla Glue that had expanded out from under the canister.

Step 5: Glue beads together & then in place. I took the fun beads my mom had and used the Gorilla Glue to attach them on top of the normal black beads. I then glued them into the center of the canister lids. 

In this picture, you can see what I did while the beads were attaching to the lids:

Step 6: Make bows. I chose a black and white gingham checkered ribbon for the BOO jars. I bough red and white gingham checkered ribbon for when the jars will say JOY at Christmas. I made all 6 bows today and then stored the red and white ones with the J and Y. I placed the bows over the area that the candlesticks attach to the canisters. I did this to hide any imperfections that may have happened. =)

Step 7: Hang ribbon off of letters. I held the letters with some ribbon to make sure that they hung below the lid but above the bow. I then tied a knot at the letter and at the part that would hang around the bead. I stored the J and the Y for later. 

Step 8. Hang the letters from the beads.

Step 9: Fill the jars with candy corn for "BOO" Halloween jars. I will put peppermints or any other red, green or white candies for the "JOY" Christmas jars. I got my candy corn for $2.50 a bag at CVS today. Each container holds 2 bags that are 18 ozs. 

Step 10: Place the jars where everyone will see them & eat the candy!

Mom was soo excited to see this when she got home. Added to a good day with the Texans beating the Steelers!!!!! (Not fair the parents got to go.) 

I cannot wait to add more fall decor around these jars! I will update this post as that happens and look for when the jars change in future posts!

DIY: Can O' Dates

This was the inspiration picture that I found on Pinterest. It led me to a wonderful website called The Dating Divas. This is a link to the Can O' Dates.

The ladies give you 2 templates to decorate your can, red & black as well as pink & brown. The hubby suggested that we do the pink & brown because those were our wedding colors! So sweet.

I even found a ribbon that we used on our wedding programs. I used it to attach the can opener and the reminder of where to go for more date ideas.

They also give you a pdf file that  has date ideas for you. All you do is print off the pdf and cut apart all of the dates! When you print off the label for the top of the can, it says 36 ready to go date ideas. They lie!!!! But in a good way. The pdf is a 17 page document full of dates. My can is pretty darn full, as you can see.

I went a step further after what I found on The Dating Divas' website. I hope you noticed the color inside of the can. I took some of my scrapbook paper and applied it to the back of every single date idea. This is what took me more than the easy 20 minutes. However, I love it and think it was totally worth the extra time. Then again, I'm crazy and a little addicted to my scrapbook paper. =)

I still LOVE the polka dots!! These 4 papers alternate the backs of all the dates.

Hope you guys have fun on these dates!

Decor: Fall Centerpiece

This was the inspiration picture I saw on Pinterest. 

I figured this would be a very easy thing to accomplish. 

I went to Hobby Lobby to find a vase, fake pumpkins, and the branches. They were all 50% off. Originally, the vase was $16.99, the branches $4.99, and the pumpkins $1.99 each. I ended up paying $14 for the whole project!!

I know that real pumpkins are awesome but I figured that if I bought fake ones, I could reuse them every year (low cost!). I found the ones that looked the most realistic. Unfortunately, they were mounted on sticks so they could be stuck in tall arrangements. Lucky me that those sticks pulled right out. Another bummer is that they have some glitter still on them from the pumpkins they were sitting by but it's not that noticeable so I'm happy!

Step 1: Put pumpkins in vase. =) This is what they look like in the vase (before I rearranged them).

Step 2: Insert branches all on one side of the vase & place somewhere fun!! (When I rearranged the pumpkins, I made it to where all the bottoms of the pumpkins face the branches.)

The finished product!!!! I hope you like it as much as I do. Now I just need to figure out where to put it. =)

Changes

You may have noticed the change in this blog's name. Since I was failing miserably at 101 in 1001, I decided to update this blog into what I'm doing now. I have found a fantastic website and have started saving ideas like crazy. My profile has all the "corkboards" that I have created to save all the wonderful ideas that I have seen. I have gone a little crazy but there is no better way to me to find ideas and store them somewhere. Pinterest gives you a place to find crafts, recipes, and ideas. The "pins" are actually links attached to the pictures you see. This allows you to save ideas and not have to face the thought of "Where did I see that?!" I will start posting on here any ideas I pinned and then actually made. If it is a recipe, I will still post that on The Rodgers Cook but I will also put a link to that blog on this one. I want to share what I have found and taken the time to make. Hopefully, I can keep up!

P.S. The labels on these posts will be which board you can find the pin!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

This is my all time favorite book...right after Redeeming Love. The pictures are TO DIE FOR! The story is AH-MAZING! I will no longer be your friend if you do not read this book, and especially don't like it. =)

#4

This goal is the reason why I have not posted in over a year. haha. I got a job within a month of applying (all thanks to God!). This has been a trying year of teaching based on the group of students I have and other situations at work. I could not have imagined my first year being this hard. However, I am putting my trust in God that there is a reason for this year. There are only 2 sets of 6 weeks until the end of the school year. I think it cannot come soon enough but I don't think I'll ever forget this group of kids. One of my students withdrew today and I really got sad. I didn't think I would miss that chatterbox (she's not the biggest one) but she is such a sweetheart and I truly got a little depressed seeing her empty desk after school.

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

   

This is such a clever series. Since I have been on such a young adult kick, I thought this would be a great addition. I have only read the first book but I love the characters, plot, conflict and seriously mature solutions. I got my mom to read the first book and she read all three books in the series within a couple weeks. She could not stop raving about the good values that are praised in this book and acted on by the main characters. There is also a website! Mom was very adamant that I visit the website and take the series to school for my students to read. Boy was she right!!!! PLEASE give this series a try!!!!!