Giving jar

Give said the little stream
Give, oh give
Give, oh give
Give said the little stream
As it hurried down the hill
I'm small I know but wherever I go
The grass grows greener still

Singing, singing all the day
Give away, oh give away
Singing, singing all the day
Give, oh give away

Give what is in your heart
Give away, Give away
Give what is in your heart
And your heart will ever live

Laugh when you're filled with joy
Laugh away, laugh away
Laugh when you're filled with joy
For laughing's giving too

When I was a little kid I thought this song said string instead of stream :)  hence the give said the the little string on the jar in the picture. It popped in my head today when I was pulling the twine out for this project. It is a giving jar after all. The idea is to put 'extra' money it in through out the year so when next Christmas rolls around...which will really feel like a few months. You will use the money you have collected to help a family in need. Spare change adds up over the coarse of a year and there could easily be several hundred dollars by next Christmas if you start at the beginning of the year. It will be nice to have this set up cause moneys tight but if done this way it will be more likely that we will be able to help more substantially this time next year. So...if this is a Christmas jar/giving jar why did I decorate it this way? Well because if I actually want to put money in it I need it in a place I can see it, cause if it's not I most WILL likely  forget about it. If I had decorated my jar all Christmas like I wouldn't want it out ALL year long. Now I can put it out where it can be seen and not have one random bit of Christmas hanging out all year....ok let's get this party started!

1) Gather supplies
I am glad I had jars left over from canning and am putting them to good use in another way.

Not the most beautiful pic but it was cold! Notice the snow on the spray paint can well that's courtesy of Happy our puppy attacking the bag I had the supplies in while I was taking a pic of the finished product. I wasn't kidding in yesterdays post when I said we were snowed in. School was cancelled for two days. I don't have any snow boats so I borrowed my husbands size 13's...just a little big...ha! I am actually disappointed in this picture, the angle makes them look pretty normal...ah well. 

On ward...ho!

2) Spray paint your jar...or whatever you want to do with it. Let dry according to the method used. You could also spray paint the lid and ring.

   

3) Screw lid on the jar and poke hole in lid with a sharp knife. Widen with a fork or whatever you grab first. Making sure it's wide enough and long enough for a quarter to fit through. 

4) Add whatever embellishments you would like. I kept it simple by tying a bow with yarn. twine and a crochet ribbon around the top. I also put glitter just on the lid to cover the dents I made while trying to make the slot for the money to go in. (Which is only visible in the picture at the beginning of the post...whoops!)

5) Start adding money! I put a whopping $2.50 in our jar to start.

       Hope you enjoyed the post! Would love to hear from you!

(credit for this idea needs to go to the book 52 weeks of random family service)

Merry Christmas my lovely's!