Truth be told, I don’t eat a lot of jam.
I do however like putting flowers in jam jars.
So one of the first DIY things we did
for the wedding was collect jam jars.
We sourced them from family, friends, freecycle
and oh yes, even bought some jam ourselves.
Well, marmalade and lemon curd.
Eventually we had lots.
(Lots here means we lost count.)
I wanted to customise them somehow.
But in a way that was easy, quick and cheap.
(You’ll see that theme running through all my DIYs!)
Then I hit upon the idea
of using my Japanese washi tape.
I had quite a few rolls,
picked up from various places
for a future unknown craft project.
So one Sunday afternoon, armed with scissors, jars
and scissors, we started to washi tape the jars…
First came the hearts, then the little sayings,
then table numbers… and finally bunting.
It was honestly one of the most
therapeutic bits of wedding planning.
Even if I did start to doubt my sanity
after looking at too many jam jars!
****
Here’s how to make them:
1. Washi tape hearts
a. choose your colour of tape and cut two equal strips
b. put them together to make an ‘L’ shape
c. cut a semi-circle at one end, then the other
d. attach to jar. that’s it!
2. Washi tape sayings
You will need a rolling stamp for this
(it’s the same one I used for our invites)
a. pick a colour, cut a section and lay it flat
b. load up your stamp with ink
c. press your stamp on the tape
d. carefully put the tape onto the jar
(don’t touch the ink or it will smudge)
3. Washi tape table numbers
As well as jam jars (and fluff jars)
we had a lot of pasta sauce jars.
We used these for making our table numbers.
Here’s how to make a ‘1’.
The same theory applies for all numbers but
with a whole lot more bits for curvy numbers.
a. cut 3 sections of tape – a small square,
a medium and a long piece.
b. make a cup of tea, you deserve it.
c. place the tape onto the jar as below.
4. Washi tape bunting
I loved doing the bunting jars.
Total switch off mode.
On round jars, I only did the fronts.
On Bonne Maman jars, I did the whole way
round because the bunting fit perfectly so.
Here’s how:
a. choose your bunting colour scheme.
b. cut a piece of each and put them against
the edge of a surface so you can cut them.
c. cut a triangle off your first strip
d. put that first triangle onto the jar
e. cut another triangle, then place it on
f. repeat until you have enough bunting!
Can’t believe how simple it looks
once put down into a blog post!
{Next I Do DIY… cake bunting and actual bunting}
***
P.S. The I Do DIY posts will run alongside
the Weddingnesday posts… just in case
you’re all wondering.
As the washi says – AWESOME!
Gorgeous idea! I love it 🙂 Kx
I could totally get addicted to this. My boyf better watch out, there will be jam jars everywhere!
Elizabeth, the bunting one is especially addictive as you tend to just keep going until your tape runs out! 😉
I love them all, because they are awesome, but I have to say, the bunting jars are my favourites. Bunting is good and French jam jars are good!
Awesome. So creative and bonus you are recycling. Love it with a capital L … And possibly a capital W … For WASHI!
Ahh it’s not a tissue paper heart after all! Must get me some wash tape! I don’t eat much jam either though!
This is gorgeous. I love washi tape.
What is washi tape and where can I get it?
Those are so fun! The a hearts are sooo cute!
I love the letter ones…these would be perfect for so many things…thinking jars for my cutlery…all I need now is a rolling stamp and some jam jars!
So cute, these would look lovely at a wedding as centre pieces with flowers or full of sweets! x
Thanks everyone 😀 So happy you like them. Quite proud of my little jars! We still have loads of them dotted about the flat with pens and pinwheels in them.
@Lisa-Marie – they were the easiest to do too which I think makes them my favourite 😉
@Lottie – yeah one of the things we thought of was that we could reuse them post-wedding! always hate things going to waste.
@Ellie – sweeties would be good 🙂 we had pops for the kids in some of them, even if all the adults ate those instead! 😉
Oh Zoe this is so perfect! I was just on Skype with my Mom and we decided to do a basket of homemade jams and jellies for Christmas gifts this year and we were trying to decide on a way to decorate or lable the jars! And violà here you are with the most lovely post!
Thanks!
XO
Sam
Gorgeous, what a fab idea!
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I love anything that involves reusing jam jars, and this is beautiful! 🙂
These are brilliant – so simple and super lovely results!
Like it! A aspecially like the jars with the bunting 🙂 Clever!
Good use of washi tape, I especially love the stamped letters.
There: finally a good purpose for that huge stash of empty jamjars I keep in my cellar. And I now have another good reason to buy more washi tape. Thanks for making my day (and for your kind comment, I’m a bit in love with your blog and home…would you consider swapping? :-D)
Such a wonderful blog :-))
Gorgeous idea, love the mini bunting!
I love the bunting ones; im now thinking its necessary for me to do something with all the tape I have too, maybe on my christmas cards although I already have plans for those too if I ever get round to them!
What a great idea! I cant wait to try it out!
~Katy
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I am soo excited that I have found my next wee project. can anyone give me an idea where to head for the washi tape please? x
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