How to Turn a Simple Glass Jar into a Great Recycled Eco-Gift

They're everywhere, glass jars that is. We buy pickles, jam and baby food in them. Walking down a grocery aisle you will see thousands of them lining the store shelves. And eventually almost all of them will end up in a landfill someday..unless we recyle them! And one of the best ways to recycle glass jars is to use them for some other new purpose than they were originally intended for.

At the same time we're purchasing our apple jelly in a glass jar, someone else is purchasing a glass jar candle to give as a gift. If we combine the two acts into one simple eco-craft, we save resources and landfill space. But we don't just want to place a candle we bought in a plain glass jar and say, "Happy Birthday, Mom." It's simple to transform that old jelly jar into an unique one of a kind glass candleholder.

Materials

Glass jars of various sizes

A strip of thin cardboard, stiff paper, or cardstock that will be the same height as the glass jar, not including the top rim.

Dark pencil or pen, markers, water based acrylic paint or glass paint

Traced pattern or your own unique drawing

Steps

First, wash the jar thoroughly, removing all glue and label

Second, Measure the circumference of your jar and cut a strip of paper or thin cardboard that is the same length and height of your jar, overlapping by ¼ in. or so.

Next, draw a design on your strip of paper, that you would like to see recreated and painted on the outside of your jar. If you don't feel creative enough to draw your own design, you can trace simple shapes or designs from coloring books, magazines, geometric designs, etc. Look all around you and find something that appeals to you or that fits the person you are designing your glass jar candle holder for. I recently made one with stars and crescent moons, painted silver and gold for my husband's desk.

After you have your design on the paper strip, insert it into the inside of your clean glass jar, design facing outward.

Then using a permanent fine line marker, trace carefully over the design onto the glass outside. Or if you are good at painting, you can just paint your line directly on the design lines with paint.

Allow the outline to dry, then fill in with paint color of your choice.

Allow to dry, and your candleholder is ready. You can either place a votive candle in a small jam or jelly or baby food jar, or for a larger glass jar, use a pillar candle.

Go one step further, and make your own candle..a Granny craft tutorial for another day!

Enjoy!