DIY: Summer in a Mason Jar (2 Ways!)

Hey guys - long time no see! I was temping for a month at my town's high school and it totally drained the life out of me. But now I'm back, and I have some fun tutorials to share with you!

A confession: I totally stink at crafting. I see all these things on Pinterest I'm dying to do, but my crafts always comes out sloppy and unprofessional. This probably has something to do with the fact that I have no patience or attention to detail. I'm trying to work on it this summer, but what I'm saying is, any time I share a DIY with you, it's probably so easy a caveman could do it.

Earlier this month, I found a fun tutorial on Pinterest about how to tint mason jars different colors! I didn't change much, so I'll just link you to it. Spoiler alert: all you need is a mason jar, food coloring, and Mod Podge (they say glossy, I used matte; it all looks the same to me). It's way easy, and strangely therapeutic. Check it out.

The only thing I did differently was tinting my jars a little darker than they did (this is achieved by using more food coloring). After I had a few fun colors on hand, I was stuck with the problem of what to do with them! You can't drink out of them, you can't put candles in them, and you can't put water in them. But I finagled a couple of fun summer decorations out of them! These would make great housewarming gifts, centerpieces for a summer party, or end-of-the-year gifts for teachers. They take about an hour/hour and a half total to make, and that's about 30 minutes of hands-on work.

4th of July in a Jar

COLORING: 10 drops red
OTHER MATERIALS: Small foam block, red, white, and blue silk flowers, small American flag, vase filling stones, fun blue ribbon (white would probably work, too)
ASSEMBLY: Cut the foam to the right size to fit in the jar. Arrange the silk flowers by poking the stems into the foam (you'll probably have to cut some), then pop the flag out to the side. Fill the jar with the stones (I bought red ones), then tie a bow around the top. Amurrica!

Beach in a Jar

COLORING: 3 drops green, 5 drops blue
OTHER MATERIALS: Epsom salt, seashell potpourri (I got mine at TJ Maxx), ribbon
ASSEMBLY: Cover the bottom of the jar with the epsom salt, pack in seashells, and tie a bow on top. Simple! If you have a bunch of shells and some sand from a favorite beach, it would be even sweeter.

Side note: this is what happens when you try to take your dog outside while photographing jars.

"Pay attention to meeeee!"

And that's that! I'm sure there are tons of other uses for these jars, but these are so fun and summery, I just had to share them with you. Happy crafting!