Monday, January 20, 2020

New Ideas for Old Jars... plus pin loom squares



Even though I believe that everything is better with pin loom squares, the primary focus of this post is some gift (or self-gift) ideas for using old pint jars. These pint jars came from local thrift shops where they often call out to me to be taken home and re-purposed. These ideas also make great craft fair items or items for fund raisers.

Sewing Kit

This is the only item that actually makes the  use of the pin loom square, turning it into an always available pin cushion.  Now you have an emergency kit of safety pins and other sewing necessities safely located where they won't get lost behind the dresser or in the back of a drawer.






Journal Jar

This is a collection of about 60 pieces of paper, each printed with a question to elicit some self reflection and perhaps a journal entry. The questions are folded over in matchbook fashion so that you can open them up one at a time and then fold them up again for later use.

This has proved to be a great gift for junior high and high school age people. If I want to give something more, like for a graduation gift, I will include a really nice blank journal with some cash in it.


Gratitude, Blessing or Worry Jar

This is my newest approach for using pint jars. I wanted a place to write down a prayer or worry, someplace that I could (hopefully) write it down and let it go. I found a bunch of wooden spools, these are not vintage, they came in a package of 12 from a craft shop, and I taped a strip of pretty homemade paper to each spool. Then I can write down whatever it is that I have to say and roll it up on the spool. I wrapped each with yarn for a little color-- since yarn is something that I have a lot of.

It would be possible to have different colors of yarn for different thoughts, but I didn't think of that before I started. A lot of the papers rolled on the spools are still blank, they were done for the purpose of demonstration.  But I'm going to start over and see if I can add a note on a worry that I need to let go of, or consider something I'm thankful for, each day.

One more sewing kit...

I know that this isn't a brand new idea, but it has been so fun to take a lovely old sugar bowl and repurpose it as a hidden sewing kit. And do you notice how well the upside down pin loom pin cushion works? Oh yeah.

I know that I can't repurpose every piece of glass, china and crockery that flows into the thrift stores but it sure is fun to save a few.

If you have any thoughts about other favorite purposes for thrift shop finds, please consider sharing them with me and the other Pin Loom Weaving readers. I would so appreciate it.  Thanks. MS

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your feedback and comments are a vital part of Pinloomweaving. Thank you.