Reuse Glass Jars: Memorabilia Specimen Jars

I take a lot of little road trips to strange and interesting places.  Sometimes I pick up little do-dads here and there.  Maybe it's a ticket stub from the museum we went to.  Maybe it's an interesting stone I found along the way.  Perhaps another little souvenir. 

From a very young age I have been a scrapbooker, so I have been collecting things for my scrapbooks my entire life.  Unfortunately, the older I get and the more responsibilities I have, the less time I have for scrapbooking.

I have discovered digital scrapbooking, which you no doubt have noticed if you are a frequent visitor here!  I find it to be so relaxing and much more simple than the old way.  I don't have to bring out a bunch of paper and supplies and spend days on layouts.  (I am an affiliate, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I love My Memories.  I have a discount for you if you're interested in giving digital scrapbooking a try!)

Even so, there are plenty of tangible items that I have laying around that I can't bear to give up, but I have no where to put them.

I came up with an idea for keep the items!  Glass jars!  Sort of like specimen jars, but with memorabilia instead.

For example, the beach is a popular vacation destination.  Maybe you've even already done this:  gather sand and sea shells and place them in a jar (a reused jar, of course!)

I think this is a great idea for any destination.  I always have ticket stubs, little trinkets, stones and whatever else I might find and pick u along the way.  Just place them in a jar.

Then you can even make a cute sticker with the date, where you were and what you did.  (You could even use the My Memories software to make the sticker.)  

How cute would a bunch of jars lined up on your shelf from your different travels be?  Or use them as bookends!

I haven't actually tried it yet, but I will definitely share when I make the first one!

Other ideas:

Gifts:  Make them for gifts!  Put little things in the jar that remind you of the person you are making it for.  Think of the secret jokes you share or the fun times you have had together and find small inexpensive trinkets to commemorate them.

If you go on a group trip - make one for each of the participants for a holiday gift.  Then you get to remember the fun you had all over again.

Have a friend you haven't seen in a while?  This would be a great way to get reacquainted with them!  Send them a memorabilia specimen jar with some of the fun memories you had in the past.

Wedding:  Fill up jars with little things about the Bride and Groom - maybe little known facts - and use them as centerpieces for the reception.

These could even be used as personalized wedding favors in smaller weddings.

They don't have to be expensive.  The point is the actual memory, not the cost.

Are you going to make a memorabilia specimen jar?  What will you put in your jar?  Click on comment and let me know.

15 Ways to Reuse Glass Bottles

I have been addicted to glass jars and bottles for a little while now.  Obviously, I am a crafter, so I mostly use my bottles and jars for storage of buttons, beads, washers and other little parts.  I also put pens, markers, scissors and paintbrushes.

To reuse glass bottles and jars, clean them out thoroughly prior to using them in any of the following projects.

Here are 15 great ways to reuse glass:

1. Put them on a tree!

Legend of bottle trees:

According to Wikipedia, Glass bottle trees originated in Northern Africa.  Superstitious people believed that a genii or imp could be captured in a glass bottle. Legend had it that empty glass bottles placed outside the home could the evil spirits at night, and it would be destroyed the next day in the sunshine. The practice of hanging bottles in trees became widespread first in the Southern states of the United States and now more widespread, where they continue to be used today as colorful garden ornaments.

 

2.  Use them in mosaic art.  

One of the most amazing and beautiful examples of this is at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.

click on the photo to go to my entire set from Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

3.  Use them as vases.  You can use beer bottles, wine bottles, old spaghetti sauce jars or any other glass bottle.  

Here's a cutely decorated vase tutorial:

 Paper and Ribbon Water Bottle Vase Tutorial

4.  Use as a candler holder.  Put a taper candle in an old wine bottle or put a votive or tea light in an old mason jar or cleaned out spaghetti jar.

5.  Make "gifts in a jar."  There are tons of books and recipes out there.  Basically you layer all the dry ingredients of a baked good or soup (and many other things), tie on the recipe and give it as a gift.

6.  Use for storage for your office or for crafts.  Separate out small items - paperclips and thumbtacks for your office or buttons or beads for your crafting supplies.

7.  Make terrariums!

How to make a terrarium from a repurposed glass bottle.

8.  Reuse your glass bottles and jars as drinking glasses.

9.  Put a pump on top and use as a soap dispenser.

10.  Reuse your glass bottles to make an oil lamp.

11.  Make sand art.

12.  Use them as windows in your home.

13.  13 Coolest Things Made from Glass Bottles from the Daily Green

(The above photo is from that post.)

14.  Keep your collections in jars:  marbles, buttons, etc.

15.  Reuse a baby jar to make a cool pin cushion.

I hope I've inspired you to reuse glass bottles!  What do you do with your glass bottles?  Are you going to try any of these now?