Craft Lightning! A 15 Minute Teacher Appreciation Gift...

I am pleased to participate in the newest round of Craft Lightning....  

15 Minute Teacher Appreciation Gifts...

Teachers hold a very special place in my heart.

I hope they do in yours too.

They work hard every day (even in the summer when they are off).

They really care about your children or grand children.

So let's show them a little bit of appreciation.

Here is a sweet and quick gift jar you can fill with anything.

Start with a mason jar with a lid.

Give the lid a few coats of Chalky Finish paint in Carbon from DecoArt.

Let it dry thoroughly between coats.

Give a fake apple a couple coats of Chalky Finish Paint from DecoArt in Carbon.

Let it dry between coats.

Using a Chalk marker, write your message or teachers name.

Use your best printing!

Hot glue the apple to the lid.

Tie some red baker's twine around the lid.

Fill it with anything your teacher loves.

Chocolate.

Markers or highlighters.

Tea bags.

Or a gift card to her favorite store.

Your teacher will appreciate anything you put inside.

To make it extra special, write her a note of thanks and have your child do it too.

Cite a specific time she made your child feel special.

She will save the note  forever.

Be sure to swing by our three hosts to find all the other great 15 Minute Teacher Appreciation Gifts.

The Country Chic Cottage

30 Minute Crafts

Mad in Crafts

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs this week.

Mason Jar Monday #1 Christmas Snow Globes

Last week I was inspired to start Mason Jar Monday from now until Christmas.

I am a long-time collector of Mason jars.

I love all colors, sizes and styles.

For today's project, I am using wide mouth quart jars I picked up at the grocery store.

I started by gathering painting supplies for the lids.

I gave each lid a quick coat of DecoArt Chalky Finish Paints.

I love the colors in their line.

Then I gave each lid a light sanding to distress them a bit.

Now onto the insides.

First I glued the lid and ring together with a couple drops of hot glue.

Then I hot glued a Christmas tree and a little rusty tin moose to the inside of the lid.

I added the puddles of glue and let them cool a bit for the moose.

Then I pushed the moose feet into the glue and held it in place. 

 I added a little more hot glue and held it until the glue was cool and hard.

I added some opaque white glitter to the bottom of the jar.

I did another jar with just one tree that was a little larger.

Instead of the glitter for snow, I used a piece of Styrofoam that I had grated.

I really like the snowy consistency of it.

I added a little to the bottom of the jar.

I also put together and assembled two more jars.

I added a little knob or crystal to the top of each with some glue.

This crystal came from the boxes my husband got for me this summer.

  I used a metal hardware ring to hold the glue and the crystal.

The crystal had a chipped bottom so I had to hold the crystal until the glue cooled.

For photography purposes, I set the jar on a mercury glass painted candlestick.

I think I will actually glue them onto some candlesticks because I love the look.

This little guy works from any angle because there is no front or back to the tree.

That is something to consider however when assembling your snow globe.

I did not think of that while I was gluing them together.

For this jar, I got lucky.

The moose lines up in between the designs in the jar.

I like this little snowy tree.

All the glitter and Styrofoam snow cover the glue at the bottom of the snow globe.

Here are both of the snow globes with the crystal knobs.

I used two trees in this globe.

One was a little too tall so I bent the tree slightly.

When you are screwing the whole thing together, shake the snow to be sure none of it gets pinned between the top of the tree and the top of the jar.

I used a little wooden knob for the top of this one.

I may paint the knob to match the lid color.

I used a variety of tree styles.

There were some trees and shapes that I did not use because they were too tall or too wide for the jars.

Be sure to check yours before you use them.

These were great fun to make.

They would make really fun Christmas gifts...

This is a proud part of 99+ Handmade Gifts...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...