from garden plOTT to kitchen pOTT: how to dress up your jars

As part of our Canning Week Blog Party, Jen (over at From Mess Hall to Bistro) and I wanted to share some craft ideas of what to do when your jars.  We all know purchasing your canning equipment is an investment but it does pay off in the long run.  Jen's got some ideas of what to do when their is not food in your jar and I've got a tip on how to dress up your jar after it's canned.

So you chopped and mixed and stirred and packed and canned your salsa in a hot kitchen on a hot summer day where you stood over the hot canner and hours later you produced a jar of salsa.  (Does that sound dramatic enough for you???)  And now you would like to give away some of your jars to family, friend and neighbors.  Why not dress it up a little to make it into a cute gift???  I mean you did slave away allllll day long on it.....  :)

What I do to make my jars look cute is to take a piece of material and cut out a square big enough to cover the lid of the jar and then about 2 inches more.  You want to make sure you leave enough to allow the ring to still get over the lid and then have a little hanging out past the lid (but not too much). 

I use regular scissors and then with my hands I pull loose strings off all the edges to give it a frayed look.  I think it adds a little bit of country charm to it.  You could also use pinking sears if you didn't want to go for the frayed look.

Then I make a label for my jar.  I use scrapbooking scupplies to do this like heavier card stock paper, fun scissors and stickers.  I try to coordinate colors and themes.

I write on the label waht it is and add some cute stickers (again to coordinate and match my theme.) 

Then I take a ribbon to tie the label and the jar.

Wah Laa... now my jar just got a lot cuter and makes for a nice homemade gift!

Don't miss out on the rest of the fun we are having this week at our "Canning Week Blog Party."  I have a linky party on my page where you can link up any canning recipe or how to guide, as well as craft projects using canning jars or money saving tips and tricks.  We are very excited to have Jane from Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms be our gest judge for this linky party.  She will be awarding a copy of her cook book "Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms" to the post with the best pictures, description and overall entertaining and educating write up.

Jen will be hosting a give-a-way on her blog with lots of canning related products and prizes.
And you can join our facebook page to connect with other canners, get more recipes and tricks and ask questions.

This post was linked to:
Modern Craftswoman Monday on Tools are for Woman too, The DIY showoff your project parade, I Made the world cuter today, Market Yourself Monday on Sumos Sweet Stuff, Make it for Monday at the Cottage Instincts, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple, Craftastic Monday on Sew Can Do,  Just Something I Whipped Up Monday on the Girl Creative