Apothecary Jars

Yet another pinterest-inspired project that has turned out to be a HUGE success. I found this little gem of a tutorial right around Christmas time but didn't get up the courage to make them until March. It turned out to not be too hard of a project, the most trouble I had was locating all of the supplies needed but after several trips to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnns, & some random crafting websites, I have found everything.

Here's how to make my version of these adorable Apothecary Jars that you can use for every season:


Supplies:

• 3 - Medium-sized glass canisters with aluminum lid
• Found at Hobby Lobby
• 2 - 6 3/4 in unfinished wooden candlestick (1 candlestick will later be sawed and sanded to create the smallest level apothecary jar)
• Found at Hobby Lobby (here)
• 3 - Curtain finials
• Found at Hobby Lobby (here)
• 6 - 4 in circle plaques
• Found at Hobby Lobby (here)
• 1 - 9 in unfinished wooden candlestick
• Found at Michaels
• 1 bottle of Americana Paint
• For the black jars I used - Snow (titanium) White
• For the white jars I used - Ebony Black
• Clear 9001 High Strength Adhesive 
• Found at Hobby Lobby (here)
• Gorilla Wood Glue
• Found at Hobby Lobby (here)
• Saw & sheet of sandpaper

Step 1: A few things will need to be done before painting to ensure the best end results.

• You will need to bend down the metal liner on the top of each of the candlesticks with some pliers. I didn't do this with my 1st set & soon found that the base will eventually detach if the top of the candlestick does not completely contact the circle plaque.
• Next saw down one of the 6 3/4 inch candlesticks right below the actual candle holding part of the candlestick. I have yet to find a 4 or 5 inch candlestick in any craft store or website so if you can find one then you can completely ignore this step. If not, then you will need to saw off the top of the candlestick and sandpaper the top.

Step 2: Paint EVERYTHING! The 3 candlesticks, 3 finials, 3 lids to the canisters, & all 6 circle plaques will need to be painted. I needed to put several coats on all of the items when painting the white set & several coats on the canister lids, no matter the color.

Step 3: You will need to paint the bottom of  3 of the circle plaques. These plaques will later be placed below the canister and will be able to be seen when the jars are empty.

Step 4: After everything has dried completely you can begin the assembly.

• For all wood-to-wood contacts you will use the Gorilla Wood Glue. This connects the bottom circle plaque to the candlestick to the top circle plaque.
• When the gorilla wood glue has dried with will foam around the outside of the candlestick ends which you will later need to paint over. 
• For the wood-to-glass contacts & the aluminum-to-wood contact you'll use the Clear 9001 Adhesive Glue. 
• This glue takes much longer to dry compared to the Gorilla Glue. Patience is key!

Step 5: When gluing the wood plaque base the the glass canister simply flip the canister upside down, apply the glue to the edge of the wood plaque, & place on the bottom of the canister. I applied pressure while having a fan blowing on the base to try to speed up the drying process.

Step 6: Next glue the finial to the aluminum lid of the canister using the 9001 adhesive again. Apply the glue to the bottom of the finial & place it in the middle of the lid.

Step 7: Touch up any spots that have been chipped or scratched as well as over any exposed glue residue.

Step 8: Put it all together & you have 3 amazing apothecary jars.

Now you can decorate them for every holiday :)

4th of July

Easter

I have yet to decorate them for Halloween & Christmas but I pan to use the word "BOO" for halloween & "Joy" for Christmas.... Stay tuned for pictures of how they turn out

Here is the site that gave me the idea for the holiday decor... 

Halloween & Christmas

Thanksgiving

They also suggest spraying the base & lid with a semi-gloss poly... I have not yet done this but I find it is easy to chip the paint so I plan to try the poly & see if that helps

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Europe

Just finished my Shutterfly book for my senior trip to Europe with my mom, grandma, & best friend Hanah. Absolutely loving these picture books of my trips. This is the 2nd book of many to come :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Pinterest Projects

This week has been a tribute to one of my biggest obsessions...  Pinterest! I can "waist" hourrsssss on this website & by the end of it I have a million different crafts to make, recipes to try, & clothes to buy. 

Project 1: Green Velvet Cake Pops

They were delish! The perfect little St. Patrick's Day treat.

Project 2: Apothecary Jars

 The Supplies

 Almost Done...

 DONE! Well kinda, still have to get some ribbon for the bows on top... But they're pretty much done & I just couldn't wait to share my fun new decoration. For Easter I put some easter eggs, jellybeans, and robin's eggs in the jars. Can't wait to decorate them for every holiday to come

& here's Mikey messing around :) always fun in this crazy house

CSULB Grad Partyyy

It's official, I am a college grad & couldn't be happier! Never again will I have to write another paper, study for an exam, read textbooks that I have ZERO interest in, buy another scantron or blue book, walk what seems like 10 miles from one end of the CSULB campus to the other in less than 15 minutes, listen to another boring lecture, be unpleasantly surprised by a pop quiz, rearrange my schedule for the 3rd time after finding out all of the classes are full, drive over 2 hours in traffic to get to school, or do another homework assignment for the REST OF MY LIFE!!!.... or until I have to start my CPA review courses.... but still I feel free, happy, proud, & thankful! Thankful for all of the people who have gotten me to where I am now. Thankful for a debt free start to adulthood thanks to my Gigi, Gampy, Mom, & Dad. Thankful that I was given the opportunity to continue my education while still enjoying life & having fun along the way. Thankful that I now get to start a career rather than just have a job. Thankful.

We celebrated my graduation just a few days before Christmas, which ended up working out really well seeing that almost all of my friends and family were in town for the holidays. The party was black, yellow, & CSULB themed, a nod to my now alma mater, complete with a candy table and everything :)

My pride and joy of the night. We were prepping the desserts the entire night before and right up until the party. A little rushed but it turned out great!

[49'er marshmallows: marshmallows dipped in yellow colored chocolate then rolled in crushed Oreos.... YUM]

[Pretzel, Rolo, & Yellow M&Ms, a scrumptious treat Jess introduced me to]

[Long Beach Lemon Heads]

[Banana Cream Cupcakes]

[Diplomas: a Pirouette stick with black licorice tied around the middle]

[Grad Caps: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup topped with a Ghiradelli chocolate square, M&M, and icing for the tassel]

Thanks to Jessi for making these delicious treats!

Me & My Girls!! I was so glad that they could all be there to celebrate my graduation with me.

My family <3

opening presents :)

A true college grad!

The party was a total success. I had so much fun celebrating with those I love most. Now to see what the future brings... A new job? A new town? Who knows, all I know is that I am happy & thankful for the life I have and the people in it!

Some Highlights From My Graduation Ceremony

Frank's Red Hot Chicken Dinner

Talk about the easiest and tastiest meal you could possibly make! Its truly one of my favorite dinners and with all those vegetables I feel like its not that bad for you either.

• What you need:
• 4-6 chicken breasts
• 1 bottle of Frank's Red Hot sauce
• 2 lb bag of long grain white rice
• Vegetables: pick your favorite greens
• I always do 2 heads of Broccoli, 2 Zucchini, and Some Green Beans
• Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Rice Cooker with Steamer tray

Clean the chicken breasts and thinly slice them
Place in a 9x13" baking pan
Drench chicken with Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Place in Oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
About halfway through flip the chicken over and add more Red Hot Sauce for extra spice

While the chicken cooks, start making the rice (it takes longer than you'd think to actually cook)
Prepare the vegetables while the rice cooks.
Chop up all the vegetables and place in a bowl
Add Olive Oil, Lawry's Seasoning Salt, and Some salt and pepper to the Vegetables, and mix

Once the rice is done, steam the vegetables, and Serve :)

SO easy and SO delicious :)

New York City: Day 2

After getting home around 2 am from Cori's birthday party, we crashed out! The plan for the next morning was for the Grisi's to come up to the city and we would explore NYC together. We were SO exhausted &  jet-lagged, that ended up sleeping way longer than planned. Once we finally managed to get up & ready the 9 of us headed out on what ended up being the busiest day of the entire trip. We did & saw SO much in those 14 or so hours.

First we went for breakfast.... Crumbs Bake Shop :)

I know what you're thinking... cupcakes for breakfast?? Oh yes it is true. We (I) couldn't wait till after we ate real food to get my hands on these delicious cupcakes that I had heard so much about. So we left the hotel & headed straight to Crumbs for truly the best cupcakes I have ever had.

We left Crumbs & headed to Bryant Park to ice skate... that didn't actually happen but it was a good thought :)

My mom & Cori decided to climb up to this light post for a photo op. What they didn't think out was the dismount which ended up being the most amusing thing! Cori scraped up her shin, my mom nearly peed her pants from laughter, both had to be caught as the leapt off, it was hysterical!

Next we ventured to Canal St. to do a little shoppin :)

Canal St. was intense. People were everywhere trying to get you to buy their purses, watches, or perfume. It was extremely overwhelming but we got the purses & watches that we needed & then happily went on our way to Little Italy for dinner.

We had dinner at Da Nico's. This place was SO good! There's nothing like east coast Italian food. I had gnocchi (noodles stuffed with potato) for dinner. I've been lucky enough to have this dish in both Italy & NY's Little Italy, & I must say that Little Italy's version was a little bit better. We all walked out of there unbelievably stuffed.

The next stop of the day was St. Patrick's Cathedral...

We each lit a candle in the beautiful cathedral. The architecture was truly breath-taking.

From St. Patrick's we went to Rockefeller Center to see the massive Christmas tree & ice skating rink

The last & final stop of the day was back to the Marriott Hotel's bar to meet up with some old family friends & have a few drinks :)

& right around midnight our day with the Grisi's ended. We had an absolute blast with our Jersey family :)