Recently, I’ve become a bit of a jar hoarder.

I don’t know what triggered it, because I’ve never cared about saving jars before, but something had to have changed in me because all of the sudden I am all about saving jars. Mason jars, of course, because they’re cute, but really any glass jar that we finish off is in danger of having the label cleaned off and being tucked away in a closet, waiting for me to find a new use for it.

The only problem? I really have absolutely no plans for these jars. I want to save them because I know there’s probably something brilliant I can do with them, but I’m not exactly sure what that is yet. Or, at least, I wasn’t sure – I finally came up with an idea to use up a couple of the mason jars I had laying around the house, and I’m pretty dang excited about it.

I actually shared this idea on Friday Finds a while ago when I found it on Pinterest – the idea is that you write down all of the good, little things that happen throughout the year and toss them in a jar. Then, at the end of the year you can go back and remember all of the little moments that you’ve probably forgotten. I loved the idea, so I decided it would be a perfect way to use up a few of the jars I had.

I grabbed two of the jars because I plan to use one at home for the happy stuff that happens to me and Corey and one at school to keep all of the cute things my kids say – they’re constantly making me laugh with their comments, but I usually forget them so I want to start writing them down so I can go back and look at them when I need a reminder of why I love my job so much.

I wanted to make the jars cute, so I used some Frog Tape about halfway up the jar…

And then I gathered up some Mod Podge, a paintbrush, and my favorite crafting tool – glitter.

This was basically the most brainless project ever – I just brushed some Mod Podge on the jar…

Sprinkled glitter on, and shook the excess off.

Voila! I also brushed on another layer of Mod Podge after the first round had dried, to help reduce shedding. It’s a little disconcerting at first because when you brush the second layer on, it looks like this:

But it dries clear! (Please ignore the red jar in the background, we’ll get to that one later.) And once it dries, it’s super cute.

Corey and I grabbed a cute little notebook and some colored pens from Target so we could always have something handy to write down our memories. I love the little notebook – I think the quote is pretty perfect for this project!

We plopped the jar in a place where we’re sure to see it regularly – our kitchen windowsill. It’s a fun little pop of shimmery goodness in the kitchen, and I hope that it helps remind us to focus on the positive stuff happening in our lives. There are always so many small things that make us smile throughout the day, and I love the idea of taking the time to acknowledge them.

I’m hoping this jar is very, very full by the time the end of the year rolls around.

I took the other jar up to work and set it on my desk…it’s very quickly getting filled up with hilarious quotes from my kiddos – I love it!

Do you do anything to help you remember the good things that happen throughout the year? Anyone else a jar hoarder – or have any good ideas on how to use ‘em up?

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