Last year a friend gave me a Bath & Body Works candle in a jar. It smelled so yummy I bought a bunch of them when they were on sale. But I have an issue with throwing “jars” away. Jarred candles feel much safer in that the flame is in a glass container, so I primarily purchase those type of candles (aside from tealight which I then put in containers). I just don’t like throwing the jar away. Last year I painted jars that I had from candles and gave them as gifts. But this year I am not seeing anyone and with a dance studio in our living room I didn’t want to take up the dining room table with crafts. But I did have those Bath & Body Works jars to deal with. And actually it started with a vase that I got for my birthday.
I always have pine cones as part of my decorations, but I don’t always put them all out. This year I stuck them in a square vase I had received with flowers in it for my birthday. I put a cork light in it and I really liked it. So I got the idea to fill it with Christmas ornaments and give it to my friend. I had NO idea what to get her and so I thought this would be nice. It is an really easy thing to decorate with and it has a pop. I had ordered pink and silver ornaments, but they sent me red and gold. The delivery had already been delayed so I wouldn’t have been able to get a replacement in time . . . plus the red ones were ok. But the pink and silver would have been awesome. (She’ll never know.)
So, I filled the jar with the ornaments to see how they would fit. Then I took them out and put in the light. I ended up doing that several times until I was finally satisfied. I didn’t use any glue so it was quite easy to rearrange things. Then I tied a bow around it and whamo! INSTANT light up Christmas decoration.
I loved it so much I thought about the Bath & Body Works candle jars! So I filled two of those with ornaments and cork lights. With these two jars I ended up getting new cork lights and they are pretty cool. They have different settings and a timer. Seems like they improve the lights every year.
So, I am super happy. I really like these decorations. I like to make stuff and I love to be able to recycle. And like I said, I think they have a big pop. Anything that lights up POPS to me.
I have a lot of Bath & Body Works candles to burn so I am sure I will fill the emptied jars with other things and give them as gifts. The possibilities are endless, they don’t have to be filled with Christmasy stuff!
I think these are adorable (yes, a little horn tooting), what do you think? Do you like to make gifts?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 