Decorative jar tutorial

Give an old, unloved jar a makeover with this easy decorative tutorial. Perfect for holding everything from make-up brushes and pens, to pot pourri and odd knick knacks.

Getting started

To create this ornate pot, you will need:

• A glass jar or pot (very important)
• A glue gun (again, we’ve stuck with the trusty tec 305)
• Tecbond 240-12-200 clear crafting glue
• Spray paint (we’ve gone with cream, but you could use a colour of your choice)
• Rhinestones
• Tweezers (to apply the rhinestones)

If there are any attachments on your jar or pot, such as metal handles, the first thing to do is remove these and set them aside.

Next, taking care to follow the instructions on the back of the can, spray paint the outside of your glass jar. This can be messy, so make sure you prepare your work area first. Once the jar is evenly covered, leave the paint to dry overnight.

The spray paint should now be completely dry, so you can start to decorate your jar. Using the glue gun, draw patterns, swirls and dots on the surface of the jar. Make the glue thicker in places to add texture and variation to your pattern. We’ve used the super fine precision nozzle in order to be more accurate when ‘drawing’ with the glue, and a tec mat to protect our work surface from any drips of molten glue.

Once the glue has dried completely, coat your jar in another layer of spray paint, so that the glue and jar are the same colour. Again, leave this overnight to dry thoroughly.

Once dry, you can attach rhinestones to the surface of your jar. This can be fiddly, so use your tweezers to place them at random intervals in the gaps between lines of glue. Again, the super fine precision nozzle is helpful when applying glue to such a small area.

When your rhinestones are attached, leave for a few minutes to dry, and you’re done!