Lets Do MORE Jars!

This is going to cover several different things, because I solved a problem I was having and decided to experiment with two different methods of putting Mod Podge and color on jars. One line of thinking is to put it inside the jar, and the other is to put it outside. My initial step into this arena was to put it inside, only because that looked the simplest when I was looking for directions. You can see what I did here, if you have not been following this already. Not content with that I then did this. However, with the Mod Podge INSIDE the jar, you can’t put things in there that will scratch it or get it wet.

OK, so first, I decided to do one with something on the outside (COOKIES) similar to the Heart Jar. It came out fine, but the Mod Podge was thick, and it got all over my hands, and it was really messy. I had trouble with it pooling around the top but it worked ok.

So, that would work for things like dog biscuits, or anything you wanted to put into it.  The first one I made I didn’t like the color and it washes right off, so remember, if you get it wet, it’s going to come off.  Actually, it sort of peels off.  At any rate, I don’t count it water proof.  But it makes a cute dog biscuit jar.

Still, very messy, and difficult to get it to the oven without Mod Podge everywhere.  And of course once you add food coloring you have the staining issue.  This is where Jeff’s great idea came in.  He made me a stand with a piece of metal pipe screwed into a flange. You can see it here, while I’m working on the yellow jar, and making red stripes with food coloring.  It left my hands free, and cleaned up easily with water.  I did make sure to clean it well with detergent and water before I used it as I think they put oil on them as a protective coating.

Problem solved. In addition, it gives a good handle for moving the jars to the oven, or anywhere else, and for moving them around for the later steps that I will describe in a moment.

Now, a word about putting the Mod Podge on the outside.  I find that out here in humidity central (South Florida) it stays somewhat tacky.  Maybe a different Mod Podge would be different (I’m using Matte because I happened to have quite a few bottles still from a project).  I will try some of the others, and I will also try the Outdoor AND I will try spraying a fixative on it.  But, when I leave these sitting on my counter (granite, fortunately) and then pick them up a day later, they *stick* just a little.  I wouldn’t want to set them on something like a nice wood table without something under them.  Just in case.

For that reason, I like putting it inside the jar if your not going to put something inside (like dog biscuits).  And I wouldn’t use them for anything wet anyway.  I know I would slosh water on the outside.  But, they are so cheap and easy, it’s not a big deal to redo one if you mess it up anyway.

OK, so let’s do MORE  jars!  So, I thought, how about designs with the color?  How about kind of painting with the food coloring?  This is what I came up with. Unfortunately I was running out of regular jars to recycle.  So, I ended up finding some small vases and votives that I had bought for other projects, but they worked fine.

You can see above how I just dripped the red food coloring down the sides of the jar after it was already covered in yellow tinted Mod Podge.  Then it was *cooked* like the other jars have been.  I really like the way this turned out.

Next, I had a jelly jar with facets and did this:

Both of these were done with the color on the outside of the jar.  The faceted jar was a little difficult, but I liked the way the food coloring meandered around the terrain of the jar.  Made a very interesting design.  I wish I had held it sideways, but I didn’t think about it until later.  And I didn’t have a second jelly jar like this.  If I get another one, I will try that.

I found two little candle jars I had with some interesting swirls.  This one was done with the Mod Podge on the inside.  It has a yellow base color with green food coloring dripped over it, but I think maybe I did a little too much.  It’s pleasing, but I just couldn’t quite control where the color went, so it covered a little more than I intended.

BTW that’s the same jar.  Just the magic of photoshop so you could see two different views more easily.

I really like this one. The Mod Podge is on the outside.  Yellow base with red food color dripped on.  I really like the way the color drizzled around.  This is what I had imagined.  I think this is what I will try to do.  It’s probably just a matter of practice.  And again, this is a photo of the same little votive holder from two different angles.

I also made another one I liked, altho it is sort of plain.  I tried to mix the colors after the fact, but ended up with an orange color.  It wasn’t what I expected, but I liked it. It’s a little more intense than the yellow, and really catches the light.  I started with yellow Mod Podge, but put red food coloring and over did it.  I thought I would get heavy red striping, but ended up with a whole orange jar.  So, my point is only that, I couldn’t always tell what I would get.  Kind of like that box of chocolates Forrest Gump’s Mom liked to talk about! 🙂

So, these are fun, you can put the Mod Podge inside or outside, it depends on what you want to do with them.  I like to cook them in the oven because it’s fast.  Some people don’t do them that way, but I think I’ll continue to do it that way.  I’m going to experiment with some of the other types of Mod Podge, AND I think I’ll experiment with some sort of fixative.  AND I don’t think I would set these on nice furniture if I have the Mod Podge on the outside.  Just in case.