on the 6th day of joyfulness...

dottie angel shared with me

handy dandy decal jars and their little painted interior coats

(skill level : medium peasy)

(i am wondering if this how-to should come with 'an addiction' warning)

i have said medium peasy not because these jars are tres tricky but more because they take a little bit of time to do and the decal side of things can be fiddly. this past summer whilst visiting my soul sister Debbie in old blighty, i found myself loitering in her laundry space, after pottling all around her shed to see what was what. upon the side in her laundry space was several old jars, each one containing an interior coat of paint. immediately i needed to do a closer inspection. upon inspection i inquired as to what she was doing. Debbie then told me she was waiting for them to dry, and that was it. our conversation was distracted by other things and i never did find out what she was going to do with her little painted jars. however such was their loveliness and the quality of 'milky glass' which came from having an interior coat of paint, i thought it might be grand to try it myself. and so i did, and i liked it, and then i had to decal them, because i am a decal addict and cannot help myself.

ingredients:

for the jar

* glass jars saved from the brink of recycling, clean and with no labels on

* household paint, i chose white, you can choose whatever you so please

* newspaper to catch the messes

* kitchen paper towel to help if you get in a real mess like i did

for the decals

* vintage decals

(can be found on Etsy and Ebay)

* decal paper to make your own

(can be found here)

* digital images to make your decal

(can be found on Etsy and most sellers are happy for you to use your images on handcrafted items, just read their small print to make sure)

* spray varnish

* scissors

* bowl with warm water

* kitchen paper towel for dabbing decals

recipe:

1: take one clean jar and carefully pour a large dollop of paint into the inside bottom of your jar, try to avoid spilling any on the edges, if you do, wipe it off with a damp kitchen paper towel. start tipping your jar towards you whilst rotating it. keep looking inside your jar so you can direct the paint to where you wish it to go. when you have covered all the sides, set it aside for a few hours, then return to your little jar and tipping it up again, rotate to keep the paint moving. this keeps the paint from settling down the bottom to dry

2: it may take several days to dry and do keep checking the sides have stayed covered in paint. do not fret, you will not have to set your alarm in the night to wake every couple of hours to turn your little jar. it will make it through the night, just be sure the first day to keep the paint moving

3: when your little painted jar is dry you have two options,

option one: leave as-is, stick in some fake flowers or a fake candle, you know the sort that has a little battery in, to give the illusion there is a real candle in there

option two: to decal! oh yes, 'to decal or not to decal' that is the question and every time i choose to decal!

if you go with vintage decals, then just follow the instructions, add your decal, wait for it to dry and then voila! easy peasy lemon squeezy

4: or you could make your own decals. either use your own image or find a peachy one for very little cost like i did from this fabby seller. i had no idea there was such a wealth of collage images available, as soon as i discovered this vintage joyful postcard, i was gripped by the need to make decals. once you have found an image you like, take your decal paper and follow the instructions for printing and be sure to seal your printed image with whatever the instructions on your decal paper tell you.

5: patiently wait a few hours for everything to dry, then cut out your decal, soak for around 45 seconds and after removing the backing paper, stick it onto your little painted jar. smooth down with the kitchen paper towel making sure no air bubbles get trapped. step back, feel a little giddy, look around your shed, find another willing victim to be decaled

6: place your little painted, decaled jars in a cluster, do not pay attention to others who may query a need for empty jam jars filled with paint to clutter up the place. no ignore such comments and just rejoice in the joy of knowing what a glass jar saved from the brink of recycling, can bring to a crafty soul.