Tutorial: Gratitude Jars

Transform an ordinary glass jar into a Gratitude Jar!

When something beautiful happens in my life, large or small, I jot it down on a slip of paper and stick it in the jar. On New Year's Eve, sit down with my beloved and go through the jar to see what we have to be grateful for.  (Here's 2013.). In the meantime, I think it is a quite decorative item to have on my desk.

Here's how I made it.

I washed and dried the jars.  Jars with lids like these work best so you don’t have to spray paint the lids to cover up “Joe Bob’s Spaghetti Sauce” on top

I used Goop Off to get rid of the expiration date info.  

Click here for more information on removing the ink.

Putting the jars on rags so they don’t roll works best. 

I used paints designed for making stained glass windows.  (Plaid Glass Acrylic Paint) It’s best to paint in sections.  When the section dried, I rotated the jar to do the next section.  061

For some jars, I added black between the color patches to make the piece look more like stained glass.

You can do a variety of patterns.

I’ve had my current one for a year and a half. (The first image.)  Not all of the paint is the Plaid on this one which is why you can’t see through all of the shapes.  Some of it is left over enamel paint from an auction.  It’s been on my desk, reminding me to be grateful.

The paint, however, even when dry, tends to stick to fabric and paper.  No big deal if the Gratitude Jar is for you---just put it where it goes---but if it is a gift it would be hard to wrap in a way to protect it from breaking without using paper or fabric.  (If paper does stick to it, a little cool water and gentle rubbing will get it off.)

So either a different brand of glass paint or a protective coating of ModPodge is in order.  I’m going to try the ModPodge.  I’ll keep you posted.  I’m hoping to sell these at upcoming craft fairs so they need to be something people can give as gifts.