DIY Teacher Gift : Valentine's Day

Here's how these things usually go down.  I spend weeks thinking of what I want to do for a gift.  I spend lots of nights pinning away while my husband sleeps beside me.  I get ideas, I plan for them.  I usually even start them weeks in advance.  And then.........I stop.  I think about how much time I have and I tell myself I'll finish it up in a couple of days.  And then........I don't.  And then I spend the day (or night) before stressing to finish everything! That's just the way I operate with pretty much everything and it works for me, most of the time! :) 

Finding a gift for my sons' teachers followed this suit as well.  I decided about a month before Valentine's Day that I wanted to give their teachers flowers.  There's just something about little boys turning into gentlemen and giving out flowers that melts my heart.  So I headed straight to Pinterest and checked out my "One Day Projects" board and decided to make vases out of jars I had around the house.  I used Prego Spaghetti Sauce jars but you can use any jars.  I used Goo Gone to get all the sticky glue left after peeling the label off.  I washed the jars and dried them really well.  I wanted a super pale pink so I mixed lots of white into an already light pink to create the color I wanted and then I started painting.  I used a foam brush but quickly decided that a paint brush would be much better and it really was better.  I painted the outside of the jars, let them dry, and then put on a second coat.  I left the jars alone to dry overnight and after 24 hours I lightly sanded them until I was happy with how distressed they looked.  I sprayed them with a protective coating.  I only had a gloss protective spray on hand.  I recommend using a Matte spray over the gloss.  The gloss made the jars too shiny and that took away from the shabby look a bit.  I let them dry overnight outside to get rid of the strong smell.  As you can see, patience is key in this project! Once the smell had diminished and I was able to bring the jars inside I wrapped burlap around the jars and tied a bow.  I added some beautiful flowers, a yummy chocolate cupcake, and voila! A beautiful, homemade, Valentine gift that anyone would love to receive! I had all the supplies on hand to create the jars - jars, paint, sandpaper, protective coating, paintbrushes - so the only thing I had to buy for this project was the flowers and cupcakes.  Simple, easy, and beautiful! I will be making myself some of these beautiful jars just as soon as I can collect more.