Jarring Memories
If you recall, a few weeks ago I talked about collecting jars and re purposing them for useful things like salt shakers, salad dressing jars, etc. I'm not sure how my recent fascination with jars was born, but I started looking at the interesting shapes that our capers came in from the local grocery store, the okra jar, Joe's special jam and many other glass containers that, for the most part, went unnoticed in our house, tossed in the recycle bin after they served our purpose. Last night we emptied a jar of Kim Chee, and once again my mind raced with ideas for the rebirth of this cool jar. Don't get me wrong, not all jars are second life-worthy. Pickle jars, for example, will always smell like pickle no matter how hard you scrub! As we race towards the second half of summer (can you believe?), with the school year on the not-too-distant horizon, I thought of a few cool ideas for kids. In the Fall I'll show you some hot ideas for jar pumpkins and Christmas snow globes, but for now we'll focus on the kiddos and summer vacation. If you're heading to the beach, the mountains or Grandmas house, why not create a memory jar of the experience? Get your kids involved by collecting sand and seashells, pine cones and twigs, rocks from the campground or postcards from the edge. Then, when you get home and the excitement of the trip has worn off, make a collage inside the jar with all of the items you collected. The kids will never forget the project or the trip! Another great way to teach kids about recycling and re purposing, is to clean out the jars and let them design their own back to school desk space, using the jars for organizing everything from pens and pencils to rulers and paper clips. In a funky bathroom renovation, I recently glued the bottom of jars in a haphazard formation on the wall next to the medicine cabinet. I then filled them with soaps, cotton balls, etc. for an eye catching, space saving storage space. So, before you toss out that jar, wash it up an set it aside until a creative idea pops into your head!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Five minutes
COST: Free
STRESS LEVEL: creating a cool message in a bottle...urr, uhm Jar: LOW
