Make your own DIY Ginger Jar

Hola amigos y amigas!

I am so happy to be able to share my DIY Ginger Jar with you all.  I have been obsessed with ginger jars for the last few months.  There are some amazing ginger jars from great retailers and curators, but they can cost upwards of $400.00!  I love ginger jars, but I definitely do not have the finances to buy a $400.00 ginger jar.  The lowest I have seen was $45.00 at a Micheals store.  My DIY ginger jar could only cost you $3.00!

The process is pretty simple.  The hardest part is deciding on the design you choose.  Check out my Pinterest Ginger Jars board that will be of great inspiration to decide on a pattern for your jar.
Use any vase you have on hand, or you can purchase one from the dollar store.  The jar top was scored from a thrift store for $0.33.  You do not need to make a lid for your ginger jar, but keep an eye open at thrift stores and garage sales for these clear glass jar tops.  You may want to make a lid for your jar in the future so you’ll want that on hand.  I find that people are willing to sell you a lid that went to a broken jar for a few cents.

The first step is to paint the inside of the jar with white acrylic paint.  I do not plan on using real flowers for my ginger jar, so painting the inside was okay for me.  If you plan on using real flowers, you will either need to use a water-proof sealant on top of the acrylic paint or simply paint the outside of the vase.  There is a waterproof mod podge that could work, though I haven’t tested it myself.

Pour about 3 tablespoons of paint into your jar and slowly roll the paint around the inside of the vase.  Once the paint reaches the top portion of the vase, you will need to invert it to allow the paint to drip out.  The lid received the same paint treatment and both air dried overnight.  Lift the vase off the surface using straws or skewer rods so that the paint can drip out.

The jar looks pretty good in all white, but a blue and white ginger jar would be fabulous.  Use a blue Painters pen (about $3.00 and available at most craft stores) with a medium point to paint on your design.  Paint any large scale designs before you paint on your small scale.  I loved the asian like writing on a few of the ginger jars I saw.  So, I mimicked the writing by outlining then filing in the rectangular shapes.  (Apologize for the horrible pictures here.  This was a midnight project)

I opted for a polka dot design in a paisley like pattern.  If you choose to do a polka dot design, it’s always best to think of a pattern while you are painting.  Your design will look more symmetrical and you are less likely of placing the dots too close together.  The lid pattern was repeated on the body of the vase.

If you mess up, do not fret.  The paint will come off with a moist paper towel until the paint sets.  After you finish the body of the vase, finish your vase with some details around the top and bottom rim.  Finally, step back and look at your vase.  Fill in any spaces you may have missed.  You may want to go over the dots with the Painters marker again to darken the dots.  So easy right?!!

How fabulous does the ginger jar look with the lid?  Such an easy project and you can use the technique to make a jar in any size.

You can use the ginger jar as an accent piece with the lid or as a vase.  You can barely tell that the ginger jar is a DIY version.  I can’t wait to try this technique on larger glass containers.  Imagine a row of these ginger jars on your Spring mantle.

Thank you for stopping by my casa!