Re-cycled jar project!

Yes, yes, another Pinterest-inspired project! Have you noticed all the spray painted mason jars that look so gorgeous? Inspired by these from She Knows and these lovely painted vases by Little Gray Fox and also these by la chica de la casa de caramelo (page in spanish) I dug out a used pasta sauce jar and set to work.

Re-cycled painted jars:

You will need:

• An empty jar that has been washed and cleaned, and left to dry overnight.
• Glue. I'd use ModPodge if I had any, but had to settle for PVA. This didn't seem to affect my results but I don't know how ModPodge would compare!
• Acrylic paint

What to do:

1. First mix up the colour you want to make your jar. You shouldn't need too much, because when you add the glue it should make the mixture enough to cover the jar. But it is always better to be over-prepared!
2. Then add your glue to the paint mix and stir it in thoroughly.
3. Now add the mix to the inside of jar a little at a time, swirling it around the jar as much as you can after each addition. This bit takes a lot of patience - I mean A LOT - but it's worth it to get a clean result.
4. Keep going until the jar is covered at least 3/4 of the way up. If at any point you think you will run out of mixture, add more glue.
5. Now get some old news paper or a plastic bag (something you can throw away after) and turn the jar upside down (so the opening is face down) onto it. You should see the paint run all the way down the jar to cover the last quarter. If not, add more of the mixture to the jar.
6. You'll have to leave the jar stood like that as long as possible (I recommend a good 24hrs!). But to ensure it doesn't get stuck to the paper/bag try to lift it up every few hours and move it to another part of the paper. You'll be surprised at how much mixture is on the paper for the first few times!

And there you have it - a pretty painted jar all of your own making! Do try to leave it upside down for as long as possible, because if you turn it up too soon you'll get horrible streaks down the sides and a big pool at the bottom that won't dry (I'm speaking from experience here).

Bear in mind that if you used normal PVA glue like me your jar will NOT be waterproof! That means only fake flowers I'm afraid. I believe that if you use ModPodge, and give the inside of the jar a full coating of ModPodge after the paint mix has dried it will be waterproof, but I can't back this up!

I'd love to hear about your experience and see pictures - links to my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are to the right!