Polymer Clay Gift Jar/night Light

Hi instructablers!

It's that time of year again and in this instructable I am going to show you how to make a lovely decorative gift jar that doubles as a festive night light.

The jar it self makes a great gift but also makes for a great way of "presenting" another gift.

Its really simple but can look really great.

Lets get started.

Materials

A glass jar.

Polymer clay. I'm using the glittery type and gold. depending on the size of the jar you may need more than one block of whatever colour you are making the "box"

an L.E.D. tea light

A present to put in it?

Tools

Roller.

Pizza cutter.

Craft Knife.

Acrylic cutting sheet to work on (i got mine from a pound shop in the kitchen section)

Baking tray (one that you dont intend to use for baking again or line it with tinfoil)

Oven.

I'm using specific tools but really all you need is something to roll the polymer clay flat with and something to cut it neatly. With the exception of the roller I got everything from a pound shop.

Take your clay and roll it out into long flat piece.

Trim off one of the edges and line it up with the uppermost edge of the jar.

Roll the clay around the jar until it meats at both ends.

Trim off any overlap and merge the ends together.

If you have any gaps at the bottom just patch it up with another piece.

Smooth the Jar over the uppermost curve of the jar BUT not over the screw lid bevels as this will hinder putting the lid back on.

Turn it upside down and fold the excess over the base of the jar.(Note: this step is only necessary if you intend to use it as a gift jar and dont want anyone to see inside)

Trim off any excess and smooth it out.

DON'T COVER THE LID STRAIGHT AWAY. you are going to have some extra clay left over from the next bit that you may need to cover the lid.

Using your craft knife cut out some decorative shapes.

I opted for snowflakes but you can do any shapes you want.

The more shapes you cut out the more light from the tea light will be seen but you will see more of whats inside if you intend to use it as a gift jar (you can get around this by just wrapping the gift in tissue paper to help hide it)

After cutting out your shapes you may want to give the jar a light roll to smooth out any finger prints or bumps that may have formed.

Roll out whats left of your clay into a section big enough for your lid

Place the lid in e center and fold the extra up around the sides.

Trim off the extra.

You can smooth the edges to go over the lip of the lid but be careful not to go right over or you will hinder the getting the lid back on the jar.

Place the lid on the jar and screw it on lightly

The Ribbon

Take the clay you are going to use for the bow and roll it into a long strip and flatten it out making sure it is long enough to go from the bottom of your jar right over the top and to the bottom again plus a little extra.

Using a pizza cutter is an easy way to get nice straight edges.

Lay your strip over the top of your jar with the lid on making sure to avoid any of the light holes you have cut out.

Fold the extra under and trim it off.

Repeat for the other ribbon.

Using your craft knife cut the clay between the jar and lid.

The Bow.

Take a shorter strip of clay and cut a small wedge from the end and place it with the un-cut edge where the two ribbons overlap and repeat going the other way.

Take a slightly thicker strip of clay and fold the edges into the middle being careful not to flatten out the loops.

Pinch in the middle and you can shape the "bows" a bit.

Take a small rectangle of clay and wrap it around the center of the bow and place the whole thing on top of the ribbon over lap.

Place the jar and lid separately onto your baking tray and bake it as per the instructions on your polymer clay.

And you're done!

Pop a gift in it and put it under the tree or just pop an electric tea light in it.

This can be done with smaller jars as just gift jars but they still look incredibly decorative.

I hope you enjoyed this instructable and as always, thoughts, comments and even photos of your own Gift jars are welcome in the comments section below.

Cheers.