Fall and Halloween

Looking for a creative sweater upcycle or repurposing idea? Try making these cozy sweater gift jars! They’re perfect for fall!

I have never used a mason jar for anything in my life.  Preserving, crafting, containing . . . nothing.  Because mason jars are everywhere these days, I sort of feel like I should win some type of medal for that.  Agree?

Being of German heritage (translation = I am stubborn), I declared that I would not break my mason-jar-free existence at any cost.  

But, I am also a lawyer, so I easily found a loophole in this declaration, and am now able to present to you these cute and cozy sweater gift jars that do not use mason jars, per se, but instead, plain glass jars. (Is there a difference? Probably not. LOL!)

And, they’re an awesome way to repurpose or upcycle that ratty sweater from college. Win!

Gotta love loopholes (when they work to your advantage at least).

Anyway, these jars were really fun to make and I know they’ll be really fun to give, too.  You only need a few simple supplies, which is a total bonus.

Sweater Jars Supplies Needed

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Note: when I published this post back in 2014, Mod Podge had a pre-tinted product that came in orange. It is no longer sold, but this tutorial has been updated to account for that!

• Glass jars
• Mod Podge in any finish
• Orange acrylic paint
• Old Sweater
• Twine
• Artificial Leaves
• Mixing bowl and spoon

How to Make Upcycled Sweater Gift Jars

Start by mixing a small amount of orange acrylic paint with Mod Podge. Continue adding paint until you have a shade you like!

Next, pour a generous amount of Mod Podge into each jar.  Then, swirl it around and coat the inside of each jar in its entirety.

Next, turn each jar upside down and let the excess Mod Podge drain from the jars.  This took a long time – like hours.  

(Remember: the Mod Podge shown in this photo is no longer sold, but this written tutorial has been updated to account for that!)

Once the excess product finishes draining, turn the jars over to let them begin drying out.  The Mod Podge product will still be thick and opaque at this point.

If the Mod Podge isn’t drying as fast as you’d like, you can use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process. And, once the Mod Podge is dry, it will become translucent instead of opaque!  

Next, grab an old sweater and cut parts of the sleeves off.

Then, put those sweater sleeves around the jars.  The parts with the cuffs look best.

Finally, tie some twine around the sweater portion and add some artificial fall leaves to the twine.  

Pop a little candy, coffee, or a gift card in there and you’ve got a cute little gift for someone special!  

I’m handing my first one out tomorrow to thank a friend for helping me out with my daughter.  I hope she loves it!

Like it or not, fall is in the air.

I like it.  A lot.

So it’s no surprise that I am thrilled to be getting my home ready for the new season.  Last year I barely plunked a pumpkin on my porch because all of my fall decor was in storage during our basement remodeling project.  This year will be totally different!  My home will look like a scarecrow vomited copious amounts of harvest-themed decor all over it.

One item that I already added to my backdoor was this cute little guy I made with some twigs I lifted from my neighbor’s yard.

• 9×12 flat burlap canvas
• Gold acrylic paint
• Foam brush
• Hot glue gun & hot glue
• Twigs/branches
• Twine
• Artificial berry stem
• Fabric or ribbon

First I hot glued my twigs together to form the letter I wanted.  Then I wrapped the joints with twine to give some extra hold.

Next, I drew lines on my canvas so that I could paint stripes on it with my gold acrylic paint.  You could obviously paint your canvas however you like.

When I filled in those lines, I loved how it looked!  The gold was subtle but added a little interest to the plain canvas.  Perfect.

Next, I hot glued a small artificial berry sprig to my letter, and tied some twine around the base.  Then I hot glued the entire thing to the front of my canvas.

Finally, I cut two strips of fabric and hot glued them to the back of my canvas so that I would have a way to hang my letter decor.

So simple and so fun.  I made this entire thing in just about an hour.

It is a perfect touch of fall for my back door.

If you have an unfortunate last name that begins with a curvy letter, you may not be able to do this project, or you may have to get super lucky and find some bendy twigs in the yard.  I’ll cross my fingers for you.

– Bre