Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Craft Storage jars with chalkboard labels

Like many crafters I am always on the look out for craft storage, recently I stumbled upon these jars and just knew they would be perfect for storing all those small craft pieces that I have strewn all over the place.
I knew I wanted some sort of label on the jars to help identify content, size, etc. after a 
little bit of thought I remembered I had a jar of chalkboard paint that had been waiting 
for a suitable project. But how was I going to keep the paint from scratching off the jars? 
Glass etching cream of course, and so my chalkboard labels became a reality 
And here's how I did it
first I created a template that I could trace around that was the size and shape I wanted my labels to be (to create my template I use packaging plastic, you know the packages that you need scissors or a knife to get into.I always save the packaging to make templates and patterns of things I am going to make in quantity.) 
Next I used  double stick tape on one side of my new plastic template to hold it in place while I traced around the template onto the jar  using a permanent marker.   I removed the template and any glue residue that may have been left by the double stick tape being careful not to erase my newly drawn outline
Using  an old brush and the glass etching cream I carefully filled in the drawn outline with glass 
etching cream and allowed it to sit for 5 minutes (follow the manufacturers directions for
the appropriate time and safety precautions)
After the five minutes is up I rinsed off the glass etching cream  and any remaining
permanent marker outline under running water and dried the jar thoroughly  
Using the chalkboard paint, I painted over the glass etched label (this may took 4 coats of paint to get a good coverage) 
I allowed each coat to dry  1 hour and 24 hours for the final coat  I then conditioned the chalkboard  according to manufactures directions.
There you have attractive, functional jars with labels that can be changed quickly as the jars contents change.

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