Upcycle DIY: jars and plastic toy animals

Tags

diy, gold painted plastic animal toys, painted plastic toys, recycling glass jars, upcycling toys

Mrs Bridges’ mini jam jars, you know the ones? Christmas saw us inherit about 20 of them in a gorgeous jam selection with samples including strawberries and champagne and lemon curd. Delectably grand. However, the downside: 20 tiny glass jars collected on the kitchen shelf. I didn’t have the heart to turf them.

Have you been watching that new design show on BCC, where novice interior design wannabes inject their creative ingenuity into tired rooms? It is upcycling as you have never seen before, where mundane and plain become glorious and edgy. How could I have missed so many tricks with naked tin cans and bland light bulbs? Contemporary lamp shades made from bog-standard wire; plain white cotton cushions reinvented with scribbles of a permanent black marker pen. T’was crude, raw art.

And so these glass trinket jars were born. Explaining how to create these would be to make a fool out of you and me. They are that simple. Masking tape, spray paint (primer and colour), small plastic toy animals, strong glue, and Mrs Bridges’ mini jam jars (or any used jar, of course).

So here poses the next question: what will my daughter put inside them? Who knows, but the upcycling journey from the kitchen to her bedroom has been rewarding. Strawberry and champagne jam on toast; couple of hours of creative therapy; and now pretty bedroom trinkets: useful little jars they are!