Mason Jar Soap Dispenser ~ Tutorial

I have a thing for mason jars. Big, small, new, old........but the ones that really grab my heart are the blue jars. I have quite the collection these days. Some of them I got from my Grandma Peggy and some of them I have picked up here and there from garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores. The blue glass is just so pretty and soothing......I absolutely love them!

I have been wanting to turn several of the old blue jars into soap dispensers for about the last two years. I've seen some mason jar soap dispensers for sale and always thought they would go so perfectly with our cottage-style home. A couple months ago I finally mentioned my interest in this project to my husband thinking I could have him help me by drilling the hole in the top of the lids. But sometimes, I just get so impatient that I decided to take things into my own hands. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, you know?

So, with that being said, there is probably a more correct way to do this project if you really know how to use a drill and a metal drill bit, but if you would prefer to just use basic tools, this tutorial is for you! Plus it will only take you 10 - 20 minutes.

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama

Supplies:

1 blue mason jar and metal lid

1 soap dispenser top

Phillips head screw driver

Needle nose pliers

Safety glasses (optional)

Scissors

Sharpie or other marker

Instructions:

Mark a hole with a sharpie in the center of the metal lid where you would like to put your soap dispenser.

The inside of the old metal lids have a ceramic lining inside. You need to remove this in order to make the hole for the soap dispenser. To remove the ceramic insert, just pound on it really hard with your screwdriver until it cracks. Once it cracks, the pieces come out really easily.

During this step I would recommend wearing safety glasses because the little ceramic pieces can fly up in the air and get into your eyes. But again, that is totally optional. Rinse out the inside of the lid once you have removed the ceramic pieces.

Now this next step is a little wild. You are going to take your screw driver and pound down on the little black mark that you made in the first step. I pounded about 4-6 times and then pushed down with all my might. You could also be a little less crazy and just take a hammer and hammer down on top of the screw driver to drive it through the center of the lid.

In the picture above, you can see how nicely the screwdriver will go through the top of the lid.

As you can see, the hole that was made from the screwdriver is not big enough to accomodate my soap dispenser, so I needed to make it larger. This soap dispenser top was from another store-bought hand soap bottle that we already had in the house. You could buy a fancier one or buy a plastic one at your local craft store.

If you are using a top from a bottle you already have, just make sure to pump out the soap and wash it out really well with warm water.

To make the hole in the metal lid larger, take your pliers and peel back the metal. This step is surprisingly easy. Just pull back the metal and check and see if your soap dispenser will fit. You want the fit to be very tight so that the top does not move around, so make sure you don't pull back too much metal before testing the fit.

This step could also be done with a drill and a metal drill bit, but again, you want the fit to be very tight so make sure you don't use a bit that is larger than the soap dispenser.

Fit your soap dispenser into the metal lid. Again, I can't say it enough, but you really want to have to work the soap dispenser into the lid so it's really tight. Since we pounded so much on the lid, you may just need to pop the top of the lid back out a little bit.

Now you need to cut the plastic tube from the soap dispenser to fit your jar. Use the scissors and cut it to size. It should be close to the bottom of the jar, but not touching.

Fill the jar with your favorite hand soap, put the lid on top and enjoy!

These mason jar soap dispensers would make lovely gifts for the holidays or as a housewarming gift. I made these two in about 20 minutes, so it is a very quick and easy project. Plus it's kind of fun to get out the tools!

Cottage Mama's Note: You could probably do this project with a regular store-bought mason jar, but you would need to make sure you attached the center lid insert to the outer ring really well. Also, I'm not sure how easy that metal is to poke through with your screw driver (the old metal was pretty easy), but if that's what you have, then give it a try!

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Easy Eye Glass {or Rotary Cutter} Case Tutorial

Today we have a special guest, my mom (aka Grandma Jane) with another one of her quick and easy quilting tutorials. Take it away Mom........

I would really encourage any new quilter to find some sort of quilting group to join. It is a great way to learn from and be inspired by more experienced quilters, share quilting projects, get advice and support, and most of all, to make new friends who are as crazy as you are about quilting! There are a lot of online quilting resources out there (after all, you are reading this blog) but a group that you can physically be part of is a gift if you can find one. Most areas have quilting guilds that you can join, quilt shops may have classes and open sew times, or just gather a few of your friends together to sew up a storm.

Early morning Camp Allen and a porch just made for quiet reflection….

I returned recently from a weekend quilting retreat with a group of wonderful women! Our weekend retreat at Camp Allen north of Houston was filled with lots of sewing, sharing good food, plenty of laughter, personal reflection, prayer and fellowship. There were twenty women of all ages ranging from a 16-year old granddaughter of one of the members to a great-grandmother with 25 grandchildren and everything in between. I can’t tell you all the “details” of our weekend because what happens at Camp Allen….stays at Camp Allen… but I will say just say lots of new quilting tattoos went home. Shhhh….

I started quilting about two years ago when I was invited by my friend, Diane, to join the church quilt ministry group. The group meets several times a week with evening and daytime meetings to accommodate schedules for everyone with the focus on ministry projects for the church. These women make quilts for each baby dedicated at church, prayer blankets for hospitalized church members and recently sent 58 (yes, I said 58!) jelly roll strip quilts to missionaries in Guatemala. Margaret and Barbara, the leaders of the group, are an inspiration in many ways. Not only do they have awesome quilting skills but they are women of incredible strength and faith.

The service project that everyone worked on during our weekend, in addition to their own sewing, was a cute little glass case. The goal is to make 90 of these cases to be included in goodie bags for the breast cancer survivors being honored at a gala in March at a local hospital. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month so how fitting to be working on this project at our retreat. This is a really easy project that would be a great gift idea/stocking stuffer for Christmas, too. If you don’t need it for glasses—it makes a perfect holder for a rotary cutter for your favorite quilter!

This project is inspired by the Quilts and More Magazine project in the Summer 2012 issue. 

Easy Eye Glass {or Rotary Cutter} Case Tutorial

by Grandma Jane for The Cottage Mama

SUPPLIES:
(1) 9 inch square of batting
(1) 7 ½ inch square of outer fabric
(1) 7 ½ inch square of lining fabric—flannel works well
(1) 1 ¾ x 9 inch strip for strap

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Center outer fabric on batting and quilt as desired. I used a cross-hatch design that I marked with a fabric pen prior to sewing. Trim batting even with fabric.

2. Fold strap piece in half lengthwise and press. Unfold and fold in long edges to meet in the middle. Refold in half along pressed edge and edge-stitch.

3. Fold stitched strap in half cross wise. Pin to top edge of outer fabric ½ inch from left edge. Baste. If your fabric is directional—make sure to have it going the direction you want at this point.

4. Place lining fabric on top—right sides together and stitch ¼ inch seam across top, catching in strap.

5. Press open with seam allowance towards lining and edge stitch lining.

6. Fold edges together lengthwise and stitch a ¼ seam around outer edge, leaving short-end of lining open. Clip corners.

7. Turn case right side out. Turn in short edges of lining ¼ inch and press. Hand stitch or machine sew short end of lining. 8. Insert lining into case and press again! Easy!!!

Thanks so much for joining us today, Mom! It always so fun to have you here.  I definitely think these will be on my easy gift giving project list for this year!

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Embellished Onesie Baby Girl Dress

Our good friends, Lara and Eddie, (Savannah's Godparents) just had their second baby a little while back.  They have a little boy named Luca who is three and decided to wait to find out the gender of the new baby until the birth.  Since I am such a planner, we found out what we were having with each of our three children, but I give a lot of credit to those who can wait for the surprise at the very end! When I found out they had a baby girl, Francesca Marie, I knew I had to whip up something for the new little lady.

For some reason when my friends have new babies, it makes me want to try to sew something new. Most of them know the kinds of dresses that I like to sew for The Cottage Mama, but it's always fun to sew something different and more unexpected. For Miss Francesca, I made a little dress out of a pink organic cotton onesie. It is size 3-6 month and I thought it would be really cute layered with tights and a sweet cardigan for the cooler weather.

I've been really into using the rolled hem on my new serger (yes, I've got new machines and I can't wait  to tell you about them). I cut a couple strips of fabric and finished the sides with a rolled edge. Then I gathered them and sewed them to the onesie. I added a strip of pre-gathered, cream colored eyelet trim as well. And finished the dress by hand sewing three little pink buttons on top.

The skirt on the onesie is also finished with a rolled hem. I absolutely love the line 'Woodland Trails' from Riley Blake Designs. It's just the perfect shades of pastel for a sweet baby girl.

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DIY Craft: No-Sew Fabric Covered Box Tutorial

This past weekend I was out and about running errands on my own.  And I'm sure most of you mom's know.......I sort of felt like I was on a mini-vacation. Anyway, I stopped off at one of my favorite local thrift stores and, come to find out, the entire store was 50% off.  50% off at a thrift store?  Yes, I couldn't believe it either.  I picked up a bunch of things that I just couldn't go home without and this little metal box for 50 cents was one of them.

Here is what the box looked like when I brought it home:

Not very exciting, but it was just begging to be given new life.  So I decided to get out my craft supplies and turn it into something a little more eye-catching.  This is an easy, inexpensive craft project that can be done with mostly items you have around the house.  Granted, if you don't craft a lot you may have to buy some essentials (like spray adhesive), but you'll be able to use this things for projects in the future.

Fabric Covered Box Tutorial

by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama

Supplies:

Box ~ any size (mine was able to fit large notecards inside)

Spray Paint

Spray Adhesive

Glue Gun

Fabric (a fat quarter should be more than enough)

Trim

Scissors

Instructions:

I grabbed a can of spray paint that I happened to have around for this project.  You want to make sure you spray the inside of the box really well since that will not be covered.  Let the inside dry and then flip the box over and spray the bottom.  The rest of the box will be covered by fabric and trim so no need to worry about it's appearance.

Cut the piece of fabric for the top of the box about 1/2" larger than the box top.  Then cut small slits on the diagonal in each of the corners which will enable you to wrap the fabric around the box (like you are wrapping a gift) after you use your spray adhesive.  You are just wrapping the fabric down over about a 1/2" over the edge so that you don't see any raw edges.  The raw edge will eventually be concealed by your ribbon trim.

Measure and cut out the strip of fabric to go around the box.  You want the fabric to go all the way around the box and overlap by about an inch.  Cut the fabric wider than necessary so you can press under the top and bottom with your iron.  Press the fabric so that it is just the right size to fit your box.  Also press under the one side that will overlap in the back of the box so it looks neat and tidy.

The next part is easy.  Take your box and fabric outside and spray liberally with spray adhesive.  Place fabric on the box and smooth out any bumps.  For the top, press the over-hang pieces down a tiny bit over the sides, but remember this will be covered by trim so it doesn't have to be perfect. Spray adhesive around the main part of the box and wrap your fabric strip around the box, overlapping the strip in the back.  

Next, get out your glue gun and glue any trims that you have onto your box.  You can use anything you would like to embellish this box.  I simply used trims that were already in my stash to make this an even more budget friendly project.  I used one piece of ribbon around the top and then I layered some rickrack and ribbon around the bottom.  This is your chance to get creative!

You can use this box for just about anything.  I think it would be fun to make some of these for different holidays too.  How about one for Christmas?  It could also be an adorable recipe card box, a place to store crafting or sewing supplies, or even a pretty container for flowers........

I simply placed two of my really small ball jars (minus the lids) inside the box and filled them with water to hold the flowers.  These flowers were already growing in our yard and I love being able to use things that we already have.  

So that's it!  A super-simple craft project taking an ordinary thrift-store metal box and making it into something beautiful, special and one-of-a-kind!

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