Do It Yourself Christmas

I was ecstatic when I heard about Chris's party idea. This is right up my ally! I can't wait to see what everyone posts and get started on some handmade Christmas gifts.

This is what I came up with:

I wanted to make something with stuff that I already have:

Beads, wire, canning jars, and votive candles or tea lights (rub-on letters too, if you want). These are things that I pretty much always have in a stash somewhere! The wire I used is 24 gauge if you are wondering.

I started by cutting a length of wire to wrap around the neck of the jar and make the handle. I totally guessed, and came out with quite a bit extra, so in the end I just wrapped it around the handle again and it turned out pretty cute. Take it easy on yourself, and have fun! When stringing the beads on, I looped the wire through some of them as you can see in the picture above. These beads will stay put. Others can slide back and forth between the stationary beads which gives it a nice random appearance.

Just wrap the wire around the neck of the jar, twist tightly a few times, make a loop for the handle, hook the end of the wire underneath the stuff that's wrapped around the neck of the jar, twist again and snip off any excess. You can add rub-on letters if you like, place your votive inside and you're done! I think these would look great lined up on a mantle or grouped together as a centerpiece (vary the size of the jars). Cute, cheap and easy!