I probably should start posting posts about my DIY projects. I have quite a few projects I made over a couple years.

I started doing DIY projects during the summer before my senior year during college and ever since, I always have this itch to doing some DIY project at least once a month.

It can be something edible, fixing up some clothes, or just creating something new.

I would patch up my falling apart purse/backpack with patches, creating a yummy dessert but often, I will take up the old art stuff and make something out of it.

My mom is an artist, she is a stay-at-home graphic designer but she enjoys watercolor painting and acrylic painting. Before computer became an everyday thing, mom would design on papers, using those see through papers and ink to complete her design before handing it in for the deadline. Often, she will shop for art stuff like paint brushes, inks, papers and canvases. Now, everything is on a computer and Mom had adapted to the change and started designing on computer with photoshop programs. We have plenty of art stuff lying around the house and I would pick them up and check with Mom if she needs it. Whenever Mom says she doesn't need it anymore, I'll take and use it for my DIY projects.

Maybe because I grew up watching Mom creating something on her paper, I wanted to be an artist but I can't draw or paint (literally) so I turned to crafts that don't involve any my hand coordination on papers. I did pottery, weaving, crocheting, knitting, photography, cooking, and of course anything else that falls into the DIY category.

So, here's to my first post of my DIY project!

I have seen some DIY ideas to do with mason jars and I have plenty of mason jars lying around. I decided this simple project to be the first one of many (hopefully) projects with mason jars.

I wanted to write something on the mason jar, you know, one of those cliched words/quotes you find printed on jars like "Love, Laugh, Life." and "Dream Big". I want a word that is not commonly used but something meaningful.

I decided to pick "Kalon". It means beauty in the physical and moral sense. AKA, the beauty is that more than just skin-deep. The definition is taken from Merriam-Webster dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kalon.

While I was working this project, I found a glass jar shaped as a maple leaf in my craft box (yes, I have my own craft box). I decided to do what I wanted for a long time, having a milky-like colored glass jar. So, I did two projects in one day.

DIY #1:

First of all, obviously, peel off the label on the glass. Often, whenever the label is peeled off the glass, it will leave residue behind. That is ok. Peel off the label as much as you can. Next, you can soak the glass in hot water and rest of residue will just fall off.

This pesky residue can be easily removed after a soak in hot water.
I use a puffy fabric paint to write words on the glass. At first, I wrote the word thinly but I realized it may be hard to read when it is covered in the paint then I attempted to thicken the word. It looks ugly. I don't exactly have the best handwriting in the world but hey, it is not sloppy.


Some puffy magic.
After the puffy paint dried, I dipped the jar into the paint can. I used Behr's Ultra Primer Paint because that's we have lying around in the house. We used the paint to paint the kitchen and there is a lot left so I decided to use up the rest of remaining paint for my DIY projects. Just keep in the mind, the latex paint is not the best thing to paint on the glass and acrylic paint will work better. But I don't have acrylic paint lying around of as this moment and I really want to use the latex paint before it goes bad. Latex paint will peel off the glass easily if it is scrapped off. I'm just going to make sure nobody comes to my glass jars with scrapper.

I topped off the finished product with fake flowers that I found in my craft box.

DIY #1 
DIY #1 with flowers I found in my craft box.
DIY #2:

I poured the same paint into the glass jar and made sure that the paint filled every corner inside the jar then the glass is turned upside down. I left it on the cardboard, and check it to make sure to wipe off the excessive paint.

DIY projects in the process

DIY #2