Yarn Bottle Jar Container Holder

I've seen plastic containers at fabric and craft stores that hold yarn.  They keep the yarn in place, clean and from getting tangled while working on something.  They are around $10.00.  I was looking at some one day when I remembered a plastic pickle jar that I'd kept after it was empty for a project that never happened.  Mostly, because I forgot about it!  So, I decided to make my own.  Hubby also found a plastic jar that originally held beef jerky so it got turned into one as well.

Plastic really works better for this than glass.  For one thing, it weighs much less than glass.  Also, glass breaks!  Most lids on glass bottles are metal, plastic bottles usually have plastic lids and that works better because they need a hole drilled in them.

Obviously, any jar you use will need to be clean!  I washed this one twice with warm, soapy water.  The label came off during the washing process and the adhesive was easy to remove while washing.  Some labels might need a little work to get them off; same thing for the adhesive.  Or you can leave the label on if you don't want to deal with removing it.

Hubby drilled the hold in the lid, 1/2" diameter and centered.  I measured the size of the hole in the lid of the bottles at the craft store and they were 1/2".  I don't think that it would work if it were any smaller and most yarn seems to be less than 1/2".

The edges of the hole need to be smoothed, He used a piece of fine grit sandpaper and a wooden dowel to get the edges smooth.

This is the beef jerky jar.  The label is still on it so it's turned to the side for the picture.  The yarn can be left in the skein if it came in one, or it can be rolled into balls.  Skein size varies as well as the yarn gauge itself.  This yarn happens to be mink yarn which is a pretty small gauge.  I put all three yarn balls in the jar to keep them from getting lost.

The yarn strand is inserted through the hole from the jar side.  

I also put the magazine with the pattern I'm using in the jar.  If it was a pattern on a single piece of paper or two, it can be folded and put in the bottle as well.  Also, you might want to put the hook you are using in the bottle as well so that it doesn't get lost either!

Yarn Wreath

I've seen yarn wreaths for a while and really liked them.  But, being crafty myself, I knew I'd rather make one than buy one already made.  That happens a lot!

Anyway, here's one of my latest craft projects:

This is not the actual wreath form, I used a white styrofoam one but I didn't get a picture of it.  This one is for another project, but it's the same type.

I thought it would be easier to use these and wrap yarn around them than to make actual yarn balls.  Also, it would use less yarn and I could control the size of the yarn balls easier.  I didn't want them to all be the same size or color.

The yarn balls are easy to make, I wrapped the yarn around them and then I used a yarn needle to run the yarn end back into the ball or stuck the end underneath the wrapped yarn.

To wrap the wreath, I took a small piece of double-sided tape and attached it to the wreath form.  Then I started the yarn wrap on the tape which also kept the yarn in place.  When I decided that the yarn color was wide enough, I did the same thing with the tape and that also held the next color in place.  I made the yarn sections different sizes.  The final section was a little bit trickier, when the yarn was fully wrapped I gently pushed the strands aside enough to stick the yarn to the original piece of tape.  During the wrapping process, I stopped frequently and pushed the wrapped sections together as it was hard to keep the yarn close enough so that none of the wreath showed through.  It had to be held fairly tightly during the wrapping process.  The particular yarn I used on the wreath is rug yarn and it is rougher to the touch than regular yarn.  You could use regular yarn, I just had some rug yarn on hand that I wasn't going to use to crochet with so I used it.

Because my wreath was intended to be a Crochet theme, I found a couple of plastic hooks that I wasn't going to use.

I used the glue gun to attach the pieces to the wreath.  It seems to last better than other types of glue for this type of project.  Also, hot glue doesn't have an odor.

I glued each yarn ball on, I used quite a bit of hot glue, I also held the wreath up during this process and held each yarn ball on until the glue was dry and cool.  For things like this, things need to be held on with some force until the glue dries/cools or they will not stay on.  After the glue was cool, some of them needed a little more glue to hold them in place.

I added extra glue from the back of the wreath.  Also visible is one of the yarn ends and it may be the final section judging by the way the yarn looks.

When I had a few balls in place, I put more glue in between two of them and inserted the crochet hooks.  Hot glue does cool quickly, but I had enough time to put the hooks in place and get them where I wanted them.  They also had to be held in place until the glue cooled enough to hold them.  If you use something like crochet hooks, make sure you insert the plain end and that the hook end is on the top!

After the hooks were in place and I was confident that they would stay, I glued the rest of the yarn balls on.

The completed wreath!

It's on the door to my craft room, I put two nails in the door near the top but slightly on each side of center to hold it in place evenly because the weight of the attached items kept shifting it.

It turned out well and I can see a lot of other ways to make wreaths with yarn or ribbon, and any individual items you like can be used to personalize it.

Working with glue or any type of paint or liquid, I always work on a covered surface.  The desk I use for my crafting is a regular desk and it's covered with plastic.  I bought a plastic table cloth at the dollar store and cut it in half.  It works great for what I need and it can be replaced fairly easily and cheaply.

Also, when using hot glue - keep in mind that it is named HOT for a reason!

Strawberry Margarita Glitter Bottle or Jar, Shaker Jar, Tornado in a Jar

This is a project that Otter (my daughter's blog name) originally started, she made one a couple of years back and then we had so much fun with it that she made a few more.  This one is mine, she tailors the contents of the jar to the jar style/type itself, if she can.  She made one with an apple juice bottle, it has red glitter in it.  She made another one with a tequila jar using gold glitter.  Because they are glass bottles, they can be a bit heavy.

The bottle I chose was a Tequila bottle, which is why I called it Margarita.  Specifically, strawberry because some of the items in the jar had a red color which bled off a bit

Otter uses the finest glitter she can get for these.  It floats better and it also "mixes" a bit better.

She fills the jar about half-way with water, warm but not hot.

The next step is clear glue.  She uses quite a bit of the bottle, at least half.

The glue and water needs to be mixed, she uses the handle of a long-handled wooden spoon.  It needs to be stirred up so that the glue mixes with the water.

The next step is the glitter.

I went with a yellow glitter, green and a lighter green glitter.

Sometimes Otter uses beads or small plastic pieces.  I liked the metallic party pieces, since my jar is a margarita I found some cute pieces that contained things like sombreros and cactus - appropriate since the really good tequila is made from the agave plant which is a type of cactus.  I also chose green sequins.

These jars work better if they have a lot of filling.

It needs stirring in the middle of the process.

It looks a little "muddy" at this point, but that is normal.

Add warm water to the top.  The water needs to be added slowly so that it doesn't shoot back out of the bottle..  

The next step it to stir again.

The glitter will float for a while before it settles.

The lid needs to be sealed, Otter uses more of the clear glue.  A lot of it, all around the seal leaving no gaps for water to leak out of.  It could be sealed with something like clear/silicone caulk but the glue really works better and lasts better.

She covers the rubber seal in this type of lid with a lot of glue, up and down the sides as well as she can.

This picture is a little out of order, it's from the stirring process after the final filling with water.

The final product.  After the glue-covered lid has been put in place and pushed down all the way, it needs to sit until the glue dries.  Otter usually leaves them alone for a few days to let the glue dry and also for the glitter & filling items to settle.  After the glue dries, they can be shook up and it looks really neat while the glitter is settling.