THE ALTERED FLEA: gelt

Friday, November 13, 2015

Hanukkah in a Jar

Any which way you spell it, the Festival of Lights will be here before you know it. This year, Chanukah begins Sunday night, December 6. It's just three weeks away, but you have plenty of time to create unique Chanukah decor and gifts.

One of the most popular projects on my blog is "Chanukah-in-a-Jar." So, I thought I would share it again.

I used a clear plastic pail 6" tall with a 4" diameter. It has a lid and handle, which lends itself nicely for attaching colorful ribbons and tags. However, you can also use a mason jar or repurposed spaghetti sauce or jam jar. You just want to be sure it's tall enough to hold the Menorah candles.

Start by gathering craft supplies to embellish the container. Go through your stash or stroll down the craft aisles looking for printed and solid scrapbook or gift wrapping paper, ribbon, punches, stamps, ink, tags, charms, metal labels, etc.

Cut a strip of cardstock 2" x 18". If using 12" x 12" paper, cut two pieces and tape them together. Then cut a coordinating piece of printed or gift wrap paper to 1-1/2" x 18." Using tape adhesive, tape these two pieces together, one on top of the other. Adhere ribbon to center of strip.

Using 2-1/2" circle punch, cut a circle with glitter paper. Punch out two smaller circles (I used a scalloped punch, too) from the solid cardstock. Stamp image on smaller circle.

Adhere long strips to pail. Then adhere the circles to the pail, covering up the seams. (This then becomes the front of the pail.)

Using varied textures and widths, tie 6" strands of coordinating ribbon to handle. Cover the center of the lid with paper using decoupage sealer. When dry, adhere label printed on cardstock and metal label holder to lid. Tie charm to metal holder.

Stamp "Happy Hanukkah" and "To/From" images on tags.

You can find wooden dreidels at most party stores or in the Hanukkah section of your local large store this time of year. Punch or cut a 1-1/4" square from coordinating paper. Punch a small hole in center of the paper square, which will fit over the dreidel stem. Decoupage to dreidel top.

Then choose the "ingredients" for your jar. Include:

[Box of] 44 menorah candles

(enough candles for each night),

the large dreidel,

small box of matches

[embellished to match]

chocolate gelt, and

candle blessings.

For the Chanukah blessings, I printed the Hebrew, transliteration and translation on both sides of a 4" x 6" cardstock, rolled it up and tied it with blue & white twine.

Arrange the candles and other "ingredients" inside the pail.

That's it!

Here is the completed Chanukah-in-a-Jar:

If you would like a copy of the blessings document, leave a comment with your email, and I will send it to you.

These Chanukah-in-a-Jar make great gifts for children, grandchildren, teachers as well as hostess gifts.

While you're in the festive handmade spirit,

you may also like these holiday projects:

Display your Menorah Candles in Style

Add Color to your Blue & White Decor

Sharing at these linky parties:

Romantic Home

Diana Rambles Pin Me Linky Party

Life as We Know It

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Eight Projects of Chanukah

It's time to countdown to Chanukah. My intention was to post one project every week until Chanukah begins. However, when I looked at the calendar, I realized there are only five weeks until the Festival of Lights!
I'm just going to have to work a little faster in order to create and post eight projects in just over one month. So let's get altering!

The first of my eight projects is called "Chanukah-in-a-Jar." There are many variations of recipes in a jar for delicious cookies, soups, natural scrubs, and more. In fact, I've even altered empty tennis ball cans for brownies-in-a-tennis-ball-can recipes.

For this project, I use a clear plastic pail that is 6" tall with a 4" diameter. It has a lid as well as a handle, which lends itself nicely for attaching ribbons and tags.

Gather craft supplies for embellishing the container including printed and solid scrapbook, glitter and gift wrapping paper, ribbon, punches, stamps, ink, tags, charms, metal labels, etc.

Cut a strip of cardstock 2" x 18". If using a 12" x 12" piece of paper, you will have to cut two pieces and tape them together. Then cut a coordinating piece of your gift wrap or printed paper 1-1/2" x 18" Using a dry adhesive, tape these two long pieces together. Adhere ribbon to center of strip.

Using a 2-1/2" circle punch, cut a circle with glitter paper. Punch out two smaller circles (I used a scalloped punch, too) from the solid cardstock. Stamp image on smaller circle.

Adhere long strips to pail. Also adhere ribbon in the middle of the paper, finishing at the same seam as the paper. Then adhere the circles to the pail, covering up the seams.

Using varied textures and widths, cut 6" strands of coordinating ribbon to pail handle. Cover the inset of the lid with paper with mod podge. When dry, adhere label printed on cardstock and metal label holder to lid. Tie charm to metal holder.

Stamp "Happy Hanukkah" and "To/From" images to tags.

Decoupage top of the dreidel, using 1-1/4" square punch. Punch a small hole in center of the paper square, which will fit over the dreidel stem.

Then choose the "ingredients" for your jar. I suggest an entire box of 44 menorah candles (enough candles for each night), large dreidel, matchbox, chocolate gelt and candle blessings.

For the blessings, I printed the Hebrew, transliteration and translation on both sides of a 4" x 6" cardstock, rolled it up and tied it with blue & white twine.

The match box is embellished with cardstock and a stamped image that reads "Happy Hanukkah".