From Candle Jar To Candy Jar

From candle jar to candy jar. Sweet!

Here's a fact about me. It kills me to throw away candle jars. You know the ones I mean. They're made out of heavy glass and have nifty lids. They're perfect for storage once they're cleaned. And decorated. Of course.

The easiest way I've found to clean them is to pop them in the freezer overnight and if the wax doesn't come out easily, then use a flat screwdriver to carefully chip the wax away. Very, very carefully. Then to remove the labels, peel off what you can. Then spray them with Goo Gone and scrape them very, very carefully. I use the scraper for my glass top stove. After you get it cleaned up, the fun can begin.

Using E600, glue glass candlesticks to the bottom of the jars. Candlesticks can be found seriously cheap at dollar stores, thrift stores, and yard sales. The ones shown below came from a Dollar Tree.

Bottoms up!

I wanted to try some glass etching on these. Use gloves! Safety first in the craft room.

Etching ingredients.

Using stickers and masking tape I worked out my design. Cover any areas you do not want etched. Seriously. That stuff can work fast!

Lots o'stickers.

Follow the directions on the bottle. I used Armour Etch and actually had to leave the cream on for a longer time for some strange reason.

Now for the lids. I used Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to cover up the logos.

The lids before I decorated them.

I drew on a swirly shape with the Dimensional Magic, let it dry and then added more dots and swirls.  The Dimensional Magic goes on white and dries clear.

Swirls!

For the flat lid, I used silver acrylic paint to give it a quick coat.

The painted lid.

Once it was completely dry,  I brushed on a bit of black acrylic paint to pick up the details. I applied it, waited a second, and then used a paper towel to remove the excess. You can do the same for the glass lids.

The glass lid.

I wanted a knob on the top of the flat lid, but thought the plain acrylic knob that I had was a bit too...plain. I glued hearts to the center and then used E600 to glue on the knob. Weird fact: the "knob" is actually the top off a perfume bottle. I really do have problems with throwing things away.

Adding a knob to the lid.

Finished with this one. Too bad I don't have a photo of the whole finished jar. I was awoken one morning by a crashing sound. Yeah, it was my new (and favorite) jar being broken by my cats. Anyone want a cat?

R.I.P. favorite jar.

The good news is that the other one made it. To finish the glass lid off, I glued a flattened glass marble to the top. It's now a lovely treat jar. It's recycling at its yummiest.

Nom!