Color? What color?

So, have I told you I don't scrapbook? Never made a single page. Seriously. All that 12" x 12" space pretty much scares the pants off me. See this project? Pretty much the closest I get to scrapbooking. (Note how small the project is... small = not scary.)

One thing I have noticed about scrapbookers... they're good photographers. And since I have previously noted that I am not a scrapbooker, can you guess what that means? I'll give you a moment here...



...if you like, you can picture Alex Trebek and hum the tune to Jeopardy during this interlude...




Correct! I'm not so much a great photographer, either! But, because I love all of the millions of faithful Pursuit of Craftyness blog readers (and by millions, I mean several. Several people, not several millions. Not that I would actually know, cause I would have to be really technically savvy and if you read my previous post, you know that "technically savvy" is definitely not my middle name.) Where was I? Oh, in the middle of a sentence. But, because I love all of the millions of faithful POC blog readers, I will let you in on the greatest secret of all time.

One does not have to be a good photographer to get what appears to be a good picture.

I give you, example A.

Now, this pic is eh, not terrible, but not great. Did you remember that I am a lazy stamper? Ok, so yes, I admit, that laziness does apply to other areas of my life. In this case, I knew I was going to make a project out of this picture when I took it, but I wasn't sure what product, color, etc, I was going to use on said project. So, I took the pic, came home, and promptly changed the pic to a sepia tone using Photshop Elements. Now, again... I'm so *not* techy. So what's a non-techy girl to do? Pull out my trusty copy of Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking magazine, that's what. This little magazine is a lifesaver to me. It gives step by step instructions for doing totally basic things to your pictures. Love it.

Anyhow, so I changed the picture to sepia and ta-da! I swear, sepia covers a multitude of photographic sins and makes nearly every picture look good. (I say "nearly" cause I know some of you are going to try and bust out some picture of your hairy Uncle Archibald wearing a speedo or something and challenge me to make it look good. Don't even think about it. I have covered myself with "nearly.")

Now I have a picture that matches everything! Woohoo for me!

I determined that I was going to case myself and make a picture jar for my mom for mother's day. This jar happens to be from Target, and to be totally honest, was WAY too expensive for a glass jar. Like $19 or something. And if you know me, which you don't because you're all out in bloggyland and I'm here at my desk where none of you are, you know that $19 to me is... uh... expensive. Cause I am "frugal." (Did you know that frugal is the cool word for "cheap?" So, I'm frugal, not cheap.) Anyhow, the key to this project is finding a jar with straight sides, so this jar was worth it. I have used a Melissa Frances jar for this project before, and it worked great and is *much* more affordable, but I was on the hunt for something a little bigger this time. Michael's has some to choose from, but I decided I really loved this jar because of the pretty lid and super clear glass, so I went for it. Not to mention it was for my mom, and mom's deserve the nice stuff, right? (This link is just a bonus for you... it goes to some of the "nice stuff" that this mom likes!) I can hear all the moms in the world agreeing now.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, use a jar with straight sides and save yourself all the trouble of trying to make your paper strips and picture fit a wonky sided jar. You'll thank me, I swear.

So, size the picture to fit the jar. My lovely jar was really close to 6" x 4" (small miracle, there), so I just used a regular sized pic and cut it down a tad. When taking the pic, be sure to think about the jar you might use. For instance, a picture taken landscape style is going to be harder to work with. Also, I tried to leave room at the top and bottom of the pic for embellishments.

Stick the pic in the jar and start there. I just started pulling out papers that looked kind of boyish, but would still work in my mom's studio where I thought she would keep the jar. I also choose a sticker label to put the kiddos names on and worked the embellishments around that.

The first order of business is to cut the paper to fit *inside* the jar. I scalloped my paper and layered it, then kind of twisted it around inside the jar to see how long it needed to be. Then just cut it to fit, adhere the ends together and set it inside the jar. It doesn't need to be adhered to the jar because
a) we don't want people to see the yucky adhesive, duh! and
b) no one should really be picking up the jar too much anyway, seeing how it's glass and all, so you really shouldn't have to worry about the paper moving too much.

I added the ribbon and label and kept working the paper until it was at the right "height" on the picture. I didn't want to cover too much of the pic, but I also wanted the jar to look pretty, so find your own balance there. I stuck the sticker right to the jar and added the buttons with glue dots. Cause those things hold everything. (Notice that I tried to tie my bow Melissa Phillips style. She is, after all, the bow queen.)



All in all, this is a darn quick and easy project. Mom seemed to like it, so I consider it a success. My total investment was pretty minimal... just the jar, developing the pic, and using embellishments I had on hand. Not bad. You know a project is a success when you want to keep it for your own mantle instead of giving it away. But I did. Cause I'm just a giver. A lazy giver, but a giver nonetheless.

And someday, when Mom isn't looking, I'll just steal it back.

Materials:
Glass jar (Target)
White Mini Dot PP (Making Memories)
Kitchen Curtains PP (Front Porch Collection by My Mind's Eye)
Animal Crackers cardstock sticker label (Making Memories)
Mini Alpha stickers (Making Memories)
Buttons (Autumn Leaves)
Ribbon (Michael's)

Later, dudes.
Jessica