Introduction: Jam Jar Wedding Favors

By YouTube
About: Writer for Science Buddies (www.sciencebuddies.org) and lecturer at Cornell University's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

My mother in law made these gift jars as favors for our wedding last year. Along with the mason jar centerpieces she made, they helped complete a lovely fall theme for the wedding. This Instructable will show you how to assemble nice-looking gift jars. It is NOT about making the homemade jam - that is another endeavor entirely that deserves its own Instructable! If you need to get started with canning, there are already plenty of Instructables you can check out.

My mother in law made nearly 200 of these in 8 different flavors, and our guests loved them (and wound up fighting over their favorite flavors). We hope you like them too!

All the professional photos of the tables were done by Carden's Photography.

Step 1: Materials

Most of the materials are available at a craft store, but I've also linked to some stuff on Amazon to help out novices because I didn't know what half of these things were called.

Materials

Tools

  • Power drill with small drill bits
  • Wood burner or soldering iron*
  • Recommended: small vise
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Scissors
  • Sharpie

*Sure would be nice to have a laser cutter to cut out and engrave your own custom shapes, wouldn't it? Cough, cough, Epilog Contest VII.

Step 2: Canned Jam

Remember, this isn't a canning/how to make homemade jam Instructable. We're assuming you can get this far on your own. If not...cheat and go buy some jam at a farmer's market.

Step 3: Drill Holes in the Hearts

Ok, so something about that sounds kind of morbid. But, you need to be able to attach the hearts to your jars somehow. Use a small drill bit, just big enough that you'll be able to fit the jump ring through the hole. I found that using a small vise to hold the hearts in place was very helpful. Some of the hearts I saw on Amazon had holes in them already, so this might not be necessary depending on what you buy.

(note: I had to take apart a "finished" jar and reverse-engineer to take the pictures, which is why the heart in this picture is already engraved)

Step 4: Engrave the Hearts

Use a wood burner, soldering iron, or other tool (like a laser cutter...) to engrave the hearts. We chose to do our initials on the front and the year on the back.

Step 5: Attach Jump Rings to Hearts

Use needle-nose pliers to attach the jump rings to the holes you drilled.

Step 6: Cut the Quilt Batting

  • Fold the quilt batting over so it is two layers thick.
  • Use a sharpie to trace a circle inside the ring from the lid of the jar.
  • Cut out two sandwiched layers.

Step 7: Cut the Fabric

  • Use a sharpie to trace a circle outside the ring from the lid of the jar.
  • Cut out a circle from a single layer of fabric.

Step 8: Assemble the Lid of the Jar

  • Place the two circles of quilt batting on top of the jar.
  • Place the circle of fabric on top of that.
  • Screw the ring back onto the jar. Do this slowly. It might take a few tries, and you might have to reverse it a bit and try again to get the fabric nice and even, without any visible twists or bumps.
  • When you're done, the fabric should have a nice "poof" to it.

Step 9: Loop Raffia Ribbon Around the Lid

Loop a bunch of raffia ribbon around the lid (we did about a half dozen loops) and tie it in a double knot.

Step 10: Tie on the Jump Ring

Attach the heart by tying a bow around the jump ring, and you're done! Now, if you're making these for a wedding, you just have to do a few dozen (or hundred) more!

Comments and feedback are always welcome, especially since I don't usually do "craft" Instructables. Thanks for reading!