Statistically speaking, the days between Christmas and New Years’s Day are the seven most depressing days of the year. Not only are you forced to confront the eight pounds you gained during the month of December alone (thanks a lot finals, Christmas cookies, and “Need-To-Be-Intoxicated” social situations), but you’re also forced to look back on the year you’ve had — and every drunken mistake you’ve made along the way. So if you you’re like me and aren’t really keen on reliving every text, face-plant, and regretful morning of 2014 all over again, I suggest you take my advice and follow a little mantra I like to call “distracting by crafting.”
Craft: Winter Village Candle Holder
Pinspiration:
What You’ll Need:
1 sheet of 8” x 11” black (or dark colored) construction paper
1 mason jar (or the likes of)
3 glitter glue pens
1 bottle of rubber cement or Mod Podge
1 X-Acto knife or very sharp, very small kitchen knife
1 tea candle (NOTE: These can be real or fake. I chose fake because I am prone to arson.)
Total Cost: $11 (and possibly a finger/early onset of carpal tunnel)
Total Time: 2 hours
Step One: Prep The Jar
If you’re anything like me and go through about a jar of a peanut butter an hour, you’ll probably be using a peanut butter jar for this craft. This means you’ll have to take on the excruciatingly annoying task of ripping the label off without leaving any sticker residue left behind. A lot like the gum-in-the-hair-peanut-butter trick, there’s probably a very easy solution to getting labels off jars -—a solution of which I was way too lazy to Google. Once the label is off completely, measure the circumference of the jar to ensure your village design is the right length to make it all the way around.
Step Two: Freehand/Trace The Design
The next step is to either freehand your village design, or print out one and trace it. I freehanded mine, and seeing as I have the artistic capabilities of a mentally challenged chimp, I don’t think you’ll have a problem freehanding.
Step Three: Cut Out The Design
In every craft project, there’s a point in which the crafter genuinely wants to kill herself rather than continue the daunting task ahead. Well, this point is worse. Use your X-Acto knife to trace along all edges of your design. If you are feeling like a daredevil (read: too cheap to buy an X-Acto knife), you may use a small, sharp kitchen knife. (NOTE: Please be careful here, ladies. Don’t try and make “human blood on crafts” happen. It’s never going to happen.)
Step Four: Glue The Design And Apply Glitter Glue
Lastly, glue the design around the circumference of the jar. Since it probably won’t stick the first 9,000 times you try to glue it, put a hair tie around the bottom and let it sit for a few hours (I let mine chill overnight). After it’s properly glued, it’s time to go glitter glue crazy -—hopefully I don’t have to talk you through how to do that.
End Result:
Have some ideas you want me to try? Email me at drunkbutnotinlove@gmail.com! .