How I do my decoupaged jars

This of course excludes the step where I spill the mod podge all over myself.

1) First you have to eat something that comes in a glass jar. Of course you could always just go buy a glass bottle or vase or whatever but what's the fun in that.

2) Spray paint the jars in the color you want to show through the cracks you'll be making in a later step.

3) When the spray paint has dried, brush on a layer of Elmer's glue.

4) Give the glue a few minutes to get a bit tacky and then sponge on whatever color you would like for your top coat. I used an off white acrylic craft paint.

Left) as soon  as you finish sponging on the paint grab your blow dryer

Right) with the blow dryer set on high start drying your paint and watch as the cracks appear.

Left) Prepare your napkins. Rip out the parts of the napkin that you want to apply to the jar. I use a water brush to brush around what I'll be using, It makes the ripping much easier and the uneven edges look much nicer once applied to the jar than perfectly straight edges. Separate the white backing from the printed layer of the napkin and lay each piece face down on a piece of plastic wrap.

Right) From the inside out to the edges brush on mod podge to cover the entire piece of napkin

Now take that piece of plastic wrap and lay it sticky side down on the jar and smooth out any wrinkles in the napkin. Once you have it applied well peal off the plastic wrap and brush on a layer of mod podge. I give it several coats of mod podge to seal it well.

Finish off the top of your jar with ribbon, twine or whatever else you want. This jar has a wide enough mouth that a small votive candle holder will fit inside. If the jars have a smaller mouth you can use them as vases or pencil holders or whatever else you may want to put in them.