Tuesday, February 28, 2012

WIld West Shoot Out?

I know I owe all of your some great vintage tips, but having started back as a columnist at Collectors Quest, I'm still struggling to find the time balancing all my blogs (Inherited Values, Kitsch Slapped, among others.). Meanwhile, check out Ellen's latest "wild west" anti-coupon commercial for JCP. I'd love to hear what you folks think of this whole campaign before I share my thoughts!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Glass Jar Storage

My dad was the one who taught me never to throw away any glass jars. Even during the baby years, he'd happily take all the jars I was tempted to toss. He'd use them in his workshop, tapping a nail through the lids, securing them to a board or beam in the basement or garage ceiling, then filling the jars with nuts, bolts, screws, tacks, nails and all sort of other little bits. Here's a tutorial at Chez Larson.



I myself use the jars to store pins, buttons, jewelry findings, paperclips, and whatnot -- even sets of premade (painted and embellished) acrylic nails for special occasions. Since I don't have a workroom (and we rent, so I don't think I'd nail so much up like that), my jars are littered about... They sit where they need to be, of course; a small jar of nails by the hammer in the kitchen "fix it" drawer and my jars of buttons and pins on my desk. But they aren't very cool looking that way. So I was excited to see this adorable idea at The Daily Telecraft:
Here's the best crafting tip I have ever given: Keep every glass jar and lid that you can. Wash the jars, peel off the labels and keep them for projects. They also make cute giveaway containers for presents if you wrap the object in tissue paper before you stuff it in the jar. Ah. I'm getting off topic. Glue an animal to the lid and spray paint! For this project, I do not recommend hot glue because it does not do well with temperature changes. An epoxy glue like E6000 would work best and would be most versatile no matter what you decide to store in these jars!

Not only is this very cool visually, but it combines several of my favorite things:

* using what you have (recycling and repurposing)
* kitschy crafts
* stuff the kids might actually participate in

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