Fall is my season, as far as color palette, so I have loved pulling out the foliage every year as the weather cools.  This year I realized just how long it's been since I've added anything new, and I was determined to get creative with some dramatic impact. I would LOVE to have Martha Steward's decorating budget, but alas, I do not.  Still, what's a silly little thing like no budget compared to the need for rockin' Halloween decor?

I started with my pantry.  Actually, the remnants of my pantry.  I tend to save any container that I think might someday serve some sort of purpose - and HOORAY! Today a purpose has emerged!  Inspired by amazing apothecary jars on Pinterest, I got to work.  Now, most of the jars I read tutorials about have either been store-bought, then decorated to be spooky, or else they are tiny little jars - medicine containers for example.  What I wanted was something LARGE that would sit up above my cupboards in my kitchen and be noticeable.

I started with 1 peanut butter jar, 2 large protein shake containers, a Clorox kitchen wipes container, a Nesquick container, and a Jelly Belly's jar.  The first step was to camouflage the lids so they'd look more like apothecary jars.  For that, I used several ribbon rolls - the cardboard bolts that ribbon comes on.  (Yes, I save those too.  No, I'm not a complete hoarder)  Since the ribbon rolls come in various widths, this gave the jars different silhouettes. On some, I'd glue a large round bead in the hole in the ribbon roll, giving the jar lid a "knob".  On others, I'd add little bits of wood shapes or blocks for interest.  My favorite is the Witch Potion lid, which uses a ribbon roll, with a wide bead, and a plastic ring (leftover "earring" from a kids' bday party pirate kit) stuck through it.  You'd never know through the paint job, right?  Wait, no, my ABSOLUTE favorite is the skull, which my husband dug out of some ancient box of decorations from his past and donated to my cause.

With the tops glued on (except the skull, which waited till the end), I sprayed all my containers with primer.  I probably could have skipped straight to black, but I wanted to make sure that the paint adhered to the plastic well, and I had primer on hand, so I used it.  Spray paint black on top of the primer and the jars looked pretty cool.  It was actually hard for me to get to the next step of painting them.

 The shape of the Nesquick container just screamed "metallic" to me.  It looked like it should be an old metal container.  But I didn't want it to be the only metallic, so I chose the Clorox wipes container as well, and spray painted both of them silver instead of black.

I think it is so hilarious that the final product looks absolutely aged metal, when the inside is bright yellow plastic!

For some of the bottles, I chose to print off some labels and use modpodge, and for others I used hot glue for writing - just like I did for my Fall Gourd last year.  I had to choose before painting because the ones that used hot glue writing had to have that completed first.  

All of the bottles were painted using similar methods of sponging on then wiping off different colors and combinations of paint mixed with water.  For the silver containers, I used black paint with water and a drop of silver to keep even the shadowy parts metallic instead of dull.  On the Snake Venom I added an extra layer of an olive green and a pea green.

The Poison bottle has elements of brown, green and silver with detailing in red.  The Brains bottle (my least favorite and the one I'm sure will be adapted and overhauled at some point) is in tans, yellows and even a little metallic gold.  The Witch bottle has gold and copper in the wash, then sponged on moss green.

The point in painting these kind of jars is that there isn't really a way to ruin it.  Every layer creates a new dimension, and you just keep sponging it on and using a paper towel to blot it off, smear it, whatever - until you get the level of character you want.  It's super fun!  And you end up with paint ALL OVER your hands!!

I modpodged printable apothecary jar labels that I found online here.  And here are some others I thought were cool but didn't have enough bottles for this year.  And a gorgeous tutorial for the hot glue writing on the jars came from here.

Happy Halloween!  May you be able to make something out of nothing but your recycling as well.  It is a really great feeling!

I've recently been inspired by all of the craft blogs I've followed with ideas for re-using all sorts of worn-out items.  I'm fascinated by the messenger bags made out of cargo pants that don't fit any more and knee socks that once used to be cotton tights, before the knees (as they always do) got holes in them.  Brilliant!

My first re-use project isn't very creative or original, but it's a start!  Lily is the worst of my kids at ripping the knees out of her jeans - even her brothers aren't as hard on their clothes.  I don't know if she has a pair of pants without at least one hole.  So, with the weather turning warm, I'm ecstatic to get rid of the hobo look Lily has mastered by converting her ratty pants into fresh shorts.  I combined the classic idea of cut-offs with my recent obsession with my ruffler foot and a deep seated love of eyelet, and voila.  Ruffle shorts.

 I cut the jeans off at the desired length, just zig-zagged the raw edge, and then added two layers of eyelet.  The longer, roughly 2" eyelet is the bottom ruffle, sewed on 1"from the bottom of each leg.  That way it completely covers the zig-zagged edge, but doesn't add too much to the length.  I then used a smaller 1" eyelet to add a second tier.  Simple, but Lily loves them and they're pretty cute on.  She says it's like having a tutu on each leg.

For the second pair of cutoffs, we decided to go with some color.  Lily picked out some trim (the polka-dot rick rack - great choice!) and I coordinated a couple of ribbons.  This pair had to be hemmed, rather than just having the edge zigzagged, since it isn't hidden the way the lace hides the edge in the first pair.

I LOVE the way they turned out!  I have a total love affair with rick rack and grosgrain ribbon.  Now you know my secret passions - eyelet, rickrack and grosgrain - any project with these and you can't go wrong!

An update on a previous blog entry, Seth won first prize for his ladybug planter in the 3rd-6th grade category!!  Poetically, the first place prize is a little planter box, seeds, and garden hand tools!  How funny is that?  Winning a planter by making a planter?  Love it.

 For Earth day, my kids' school challenged the students to come up with projects using recycled items.  Seth spent a lot of time brainstorming - favoring ideas that would have made NASA proud, but were a great stress to me because of how complicated (and not likely to be anything but a big mess) they were.  I told him to simplify a bit - especially because, as usual, he had waited until the last minute to do the project - and he came up with a planter box.  He used a Hawaiian Punch bottle, and his Dad helped him cut a rectangle out of the side.  He GENEROUSLY spray-painted his planter to look like a ladybug.  I love the face he drew on the lid.  Craft sticks are the legs - which serve the purpose of keeping the whole thing from rolling over on its side.  After picking out and planting his plants, he finished barely in time.  He's pretty proud of his buggy bottle planter.