The Jar of Good Things

Right before New Years we read about an idea from somebody on the Internet, to write about all the good things that happen in 2015 and put them in a jar. James and I liked that idea so we bought a jar. A while ago I had seen this jar decorated with tissue paper in a quatrefoil pattern. Being the unique and creative person that I am I decided to do the exact same thing. (But really. Who needs to reinvent the wheel?)

Since we were pretty far into January by the time I finished the jar and papers, we had a family home evening where we got caught up on everything we could remember from the past month. Hopefully, unlike many new years resolutions, this idea will last all the way to December! It will be pretty cool to dump all the papers out and look back on the year.

Anyway, I was so so so very excited about this crafty project that I took pictures while I was making it. I felt rather Pinterest-y.

First, and this is actually true, I made my own Mod Podge. Mostly, I just didn't want to spend a bunch of money (or a small amount of money) on something that I probably will use once a year. It's fun, but from what I can tell it's only used for useless things, like gluing tissue paper to a perfectly fine-looking jar.







I even took one of those pictures where it shows all the supplies you will need. Everyone I know always gathers and sets out the supplies in neat aesthetic rows right before starting a project. Kind of like those cooking shows where the chef already has all the ingredients measured out into infinitely many measuring cups and so it only takes 5 minutes to make when in reality it would take probably 30 minutes...Anyway.

A paper punch would be ideal for this type of thing, but I didn't have one so I measured and cut out a quatrefoil from cardboard and then traced it onto the tissue paper 40+ times and cut them all out. 

Here are the little beasties!









Then glue them on. Voila! James pointed out something which had never ever crossed my mind until I was nearly done: I am really lucky the pattern fit perfectly around the jar! It didn't overlap at all.

I'm hoping the jar will get completely packed and almost overflow by the end of the year. I wonder how much paper that would require. We'll see in December.