Jar gift ideas - A recycle project.

Hi friends, 

I am the family's official jam and preserve giver, so I have asked everybody to save their used food jars for me. I have LOTS of jars. The small problem though, is that you can only make so much jam. I have to find a way to use up some of the huge pile of jars, before taking them to the recycle depot.

Since I am still looking to make gifts, I have found a few ideas that I like. I know that there is a huge Mason Jar buzz all over the Net, but I want to make this a "recycle" project. I share my favourites.

1. Crochet jar cosies by Kelbourne: There is a crochet pattern for the general idea, and one can play around with colour and different crochet embellishments, of which there are many patterns around.

2. Crochet jar cosies by Een streepze zonlicht: Very adorable. I have lots of baby food jars that can be used.

3. Raspberry jam hearts in a jar by Ideas magazine: There is a recipe for the raspberry jam biscuits, and a free printable label on the site. Ideas magazine is one of my favourite publications, and their web page is full of great ideas.

4. Chalkboard paint heart jar by Mama did it: One of the many jar paint ideas around. The person's name is written in chalk on the jar. This is a great teachers gift.

5. Pin cushion jar, one of many on Pinterest. This can be filled with sewing kits, sewing supplies like buttons, lace and ribbon.

6. (Very) Romantic jar on Pinterest. Can be used for storing trinkets or pieces of paper with daily verses or journal topics.

There are many, many more ideas floating around on the Net, but far too few hours in a day. 

Till next time, 

Happy tinkering.

Hearts: Handmade gift ideas.

Hi tinkering friends,

Today, I was looking for some ideas for handmade gifts. Off course good old Pinterest came to the rescue. My eyes were instantly drawn to the hundreds of beautiful "heart" pins. Each one unique and made with love. 

Needless to say it was a hard choice, so I decided to choose only a few that stood out, to draw inspiration from.

This vintage feel (follow your) heart by Jessie Chorley is a good gift for my niece who is going to university next year.

The button heart by sweetmeas.com will put my cake tin full of buttons (accumulated over many years) to good use.

Sweet set of bird house hooks that caught my eye. Love this.

Beautiful blue heart set, perfect for a good friend.

Sea glass, encased in a wire heart from etsy.com. Crystals will look good too.

Rustic wooden heart for a garden or porch. The reclaimed wood in the shed comes to mind.

Paper heart card by Blanc et Caramel. Looove!

Heart collage with crochet motif from etsy.com. I have lots of crochet samplers and an old blouse that can work, mmm.

Collage hearts by manuscrap.worldpress.com. Good use for old fabric scraps that I could never throw away.

Now it boils down to: Decisions, decisions decisions.

Until next time,

Happy tinkering!

Three Angels for Christmas

Hi Tinkerers, 

I am still following the Christmas theme. I found these beautiful Angels that inspired me to go out and buy the supplies to make them. 

Two of these babies comes with patterns, and the third one is so beautiful, that I placed her anyway.

Fabric Angel: by Dutch Blue.

This Angel is so beautiful, that she must not only be kept as a Christmas ornament. She must be treasured all year round. This will make a cool gift for a secret friend at church.

Fabric/Felt Angel: by annacrafts. 

This pretty baby can be made with felt, or can be made as an applique. On this site is a pattern plus some other gorgeous Angels with patterns.

Felt/Fabric Angel: by SnowFish on etsy.com.

There is no pattern, but she is so beautiful that I placed her for inspiration.

I hope that you enjoy these darlings as much as I do.

Until next time, happy tinkering.

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A Christmas theme part one

A Christmas theme, part one.

I notice that some of our shops are already starting to display their Christmas themes. This is a wake-up call for me that prompted for action.

Our Christmas “tree” has shrunk every year for the past ten years, and the sorry specimen is now about 30 centimeters tall. I always justified the lack of Christmas spirit in my house by saying that the kids are out of the house, so why bother. Things must now drastically change, since we now have a fourteen month old grandson to impress.

The old tree and store bought ornaments accumulated over the years will have to go. I am already browsing the net for handmade ornaments and gifts.

I came across these beautiful wire angels on http://img0.etsystatic.com/013/0/5268923/il_570xN.451998168_6rwc.jpg

The tutorial for the next adorable items I found on http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2011/12/ornament-blog-hop.html

I have quite a large stash of beads and wire in my cupboard that will come in handy.

I will certainly share my finished products with you.

Till next time, keep on creating.

Judy.