Mason Jar Signs

​Hello Friends!  It’s Suzanne, Rebecca's mama, happy to be back with you today on the Patterned Paper Plate.  Today I have a quick and easy dollar store redo to share with you. I’ve been trying to work through my stash of items and found these three fall-themed Mason jar decor pieces I picked up a while ago (probably last fall!) from the dollar store. I wasn't particularly enamored of them in their current state, but I did like the Mason jar shape. I decided that they would be perfect candidates for individualized makeovers.

​I started by removing the twine and metal pieces at the top of each jar, then peeled away the top layer of paper that was decorating each one. Part of the reason I didn't particularly like these pieces as they were because the metal piece at the top of each one was not well aligned with the edge of the “lid” of the Mason jar and the paper decorating them was not well adhered. I'm also not that big a fan of glitter so the glittered letters weren't my cup of tea. 

​After peeling off the top layer of paper, I used a tried-and-true method to remove the rest of the paper left on the piece. I wet a piece of paper towel with some warm water and laid it over the piece. 

After just a few minutes, the water and the heat activated the glue holding the paper on and I was able to scrape it off very easily. This method must be done quickly and carefully because these pieces are not wood but pressed paper and if you leave the wetness on them too long they will warp.

After quick sanding on both sides, I was ready to begin their transformation.  The first thing I did was paint the edges and just a little bit onto the piece itself with black paint. These were various colors depending on their original decoration and I wanted them to be black. 

​I knew that I wanted one side of them to be fall themed and I wanted to use this coffee themed paper on the other side.  Unfortunately, I found that the images were too small to be impactful. I decided then to make the backside a more all occasion type of piece, using more general papers and images to decorate the backside.

​To begin, I cut three pieces of fall themed paper and three fall themed images from a coordinated paper pack and used a liquid adhesive to adhere the paper to one side of the Mason jar shape.  I used a brayer to make sure the paper was well adhered.

​Once the glue was dry I went around with a pen knife and trimmed the paper flush with the edge of the shape. I also used a little sandpaper to ensure the edges of the paper were not overlapping the edges of the shapes. ​I repeated this process on the reverse with a more any occasion type of paper. 

Once everything was trimmed, I checked my edges and added a touch more glue to any edge where the paper was not fully adhered. I then took a small amount of black paint on a tiny paintbrush and touched up the edges where my trimming and sanding removed some of the original black paint.

​While the paint was drying, I cut three pieces of a shimmery silver paper in the same shape as the metal “lids” and ran those through a paper crimper so that I would have an additional set of “lids” for the reverse of my piece.

​There was just one more step to preparing these for decoration. I used a small sponge with a light brown ink pad to go around the edges of the paper and knock down the whiteness of the cuts. This made the end of the paper blend in with the black sides and softened the edges of each piece.

​Finally, it was time to get to the most fun part of any project, which is actually decorating these pieces. I started by gluing the metal lids back on the fall themed side (which I considered my primary side). I was careful to ensure that the edges were well lined up with the edges of the Mason jar piece. I then used my new lids made from the paper on the reverse side. I also put the twine that was originally on these pieces back around the “neck” of the Mason jar.  

While that glue was settling I took each of my focal images and cut either black or brown card stock to back them up before adding them to the Mason jars.  I added some dimensional foam tape to the back of my focal images so they would sit just a bit away from the Mason jar itself. After exposing the adhesive on the dimensional foam tape, I added a touch of hot glue and centered each focal image on the Mason jar. I raided my stash of embellishments and added a little touch to each of the jars - leaves and pumpkins and sunflowers to the fall side and flowers and butterflies to the reverse side.

Taking a boring piece from the dollar store and turning it into something much cuter and one-of-a-kind is pretty easy with beautiful papers and a few small embellishments. I hope I’ve inspired you to give something that is not quite your style a second look and turn it into something that is your own.
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I also wanted to share one quick photo with you to show you how I updated the faux rust pocket I made several months ago. I removed the greenery that had been inside of it and added some silk mums, bittersweet and a few small pumpkins. I also switched out the vintage lace for a fall themed ribbon. I'm still really happy with this piece and I'm looking forward to giving it another makeover for the winter holidays.

Happy Fall, y’all!

Thank you to my mom for her craftiness this week! Talk to you all soon! - Rebecca

P.S. Today's photo on the homepage is from Pexels user Brett Sayles:
www.pexels.com/search/mason%20jar/?orientation=landscape​