Spring Apothecary Jars!

I LOOOOOOOOVE apothecary jars! I also had a serious itch to make some spring decorations. The pups got me up at 6:30 am, so I decided to be productive this Saturday morning and do something about the spring decor itch.

A few thoughts about decorating in vases and apothecary jars first:

The lovely thing about vases and apothecary jars is that you don't have to do anything complicated to make them pop. All you need is some filler and you're good to go. The other thing you can do is make them sort of like a little seasonal scene. Either way, not complicated. In fact, I usually use seasonal stuff from the dollar store to fill mine. So I took some inexpensive seasonal items I either already had or that I recently picked up:

 The floral moss, floral foam, and mossy rock thingies (why yes, that IS their official name) all came from the dollar store (I got them last year for a different project). I still see them at the dollar store all the time so you should be able to pick up something similar to these.

 The rafia came from the dollar store this year. The fern basket I picked up on sale at Artco last year for $7. I haven't been able to use it until now, so I definitely wanted to take advantage of it....it's an awesome piece!

 Butterflies....I got these last year for a different project and am reusing them. I think I got them at Artco, but you can find these at any craft store. I don't remember exactly how much I paid for them, but it wouldn't have been more than a few dollars (definitely under $5, probably more like $3).

 The dollar store has an excellent silk flower collection. I wouldn't use them for higher-end decorations, but are perfect for my purposes today!

 No spring decoration is complete without speckled eggs! Dollar store came through again!

 I got all of these little guys at the dollar store. Aren't they perfect?!?!

 Dollar store Easter grass....you could always just run colored paper through a shredder too if you don't want to buy a bag of it. I'm lazy so I just bought the bag.

Last year's plastic Easter eggs (I make a basket every year for Brandon. We don't have kids so he gets a basket instead!).

So I gathered my hurricane vases, apothecary jars, and small cloche, and got busy experimenting. By the way, no crafting morning is complete without...

CHICK FLICKS AND TEA!!

Anyways, the first thing I did was get out some canned goods. They are great for putting in the vases or jars to add height, and you also can use less filler per jar. This makes for cheaper decorating, and you can make more of them with your supplies instead of having to buy more supplies. 

I worked on that small jar on the left first. I decided the little white bunny would look great in it. I put in some moss and sat the bunny on top. I didn't actually leave the can in it because it made the bunny sit too high for the lid.

Isn't he cute?? I decided to not add anything to this jar...less is more, and I wanted the bunny to be the focus.

Next, I worked on the hurricane vases. I put smaller cans in both of them, then filled one with rafia and one with moss. You might have to really stuff your filler down into the bottom of the vase to make sure your can doesn't peek out. Once I was happy with the filler, I set my birds on top. I added three speckled eggs to both vases, moss rocks to one, and was good to go. I did add a butterfly to one of them...it just needed something more. Vases and apothecary jars are really about experimenting until you are happy with them.

By the way, if part of your can is peeking out, just make it the back of your display. Unless it's a table centerpiece, no one will be the wiser for it.

Anyways, I decided to do the fern basket next. This one was really easy...I just stuck a bird in it and some speckled eggs, and it was good to go!

Next I filled the milk-jug looking apothecary jar. I stuck some floral foam in there, along with some moss rocks....

I filled it in with a small rock, some moss over the foam to hide it, some silk flowers, and a butterfly. I just played with it until I was happy with it...

For two of my smaller jars, I just stuck some glitter eggs from the dollar store in them. This is the finished vase and jar collection....

LOVE THEM!! So spring-y and natural. I just needed to do the cloche now. I got out a dinner plate, turned the lid upside-down, and filled it will the Easter grass and plastic eggs. This one is less natural feeling, but it is fun and festive. I added two little butterflies to it after I stuck it on the mantle. I think I may transfer it to a cake stand to add some height.

Here they are in their places:

And here is the giant mess I had leftover after I did all this:

Crafting is messy work, people! :)

A few thoughts about apothecary jars and vases and then I'll sign off. Purchasing apothecary jars and hurricane vases can get expensive fast! Michael's and Joann's has them ranging from $12 to upwards of $45 dollars! That is NOT in my budget! I mostly only have smaller jars right now since we haven't really lived in a place that warranted bigger ones. I found mine at antique stores and paid no more than $6 for a piece. The hurricane vases were leftover from my wedding, and I think I bought those with a coupon. If you want some bigger apothecary jars or vases, purchase them at places like TJ Maxx or Marshall's. They have them for really inexpensive (I think the most expensive one I saw at Marshall's recently was $16, and it would have been $45 at Michael's). I'm putting a few of those on my birthday list since we now have a mantle that is PERFECT for large apothecary jars!!

Other filler ideas for spring: jelly beans, plastic eggs and Easter grass (like the cloche....these would be super cute in a hurricane vase or jar too!), faux speckled eggs, decopauged eggs, small garden gnome, peeps....the possibilities are endless! Pinterest also has fabulous ideas :). Also, it's never a bad idea to buy filler stuff at the end of the season when it's on clearance to use for next year! :)

Wow I just realized how long this post is....thanks for reading!

Sola Deo Gloria!