Monday, October 29, 2012

This and That

I did it.  I finished one.  I'm so proud of me.

 
 
I'll grant you it is the smallest, but I finished it!
 
 
My second favorite hobby is gardening.  I have been trying to grow my own herbs for the past few years.  It's amazing how large one small starter plant can get.  The thyme plant I planted two years ago has spread to cover a three foot square.  I use it fresh during the summer and fall, but then I dry armloads for winter use.  With such a harvest, I needed something in which to store the dried herbs. 
      My husband loves Parmesan cheese sprinkled on his popcorn and I decided these wre ideal for storing the herbs.  I printed out labels, glued them onto the jara and viola, herb jars.
 


What I don't grow myself, I purchase in bulk.  I can buy 6-8 ounces of bulk herbs and spices for approximately the same cost as a 2 ounce jar.  The really nice thing about these jars is that they have a divided lid, one side large enough to spoon out the herb, the other side with holes in it for sprinkling.

     When I was in California visiting my daughter, I stumbled across large Folgers coffee containers.  I don't remember exactly how much coffee they contained, but I think about three pounds. They are the perfect size to hold 5 pounds of flour or sugar, and of course, I have one for coffee.


I use the smaller cans for things like brown sugar, rice, powdered sugar, you name it.  Since I put my borwn sugar in one of these containers, I haven't had any hard, dried out sugar.


Decorating the cans has limitless possibilities. There are three separate panels on each can.  For the brown sugar, I copied a picutre of a bear onto a grocery sack, with the label on a separate piece of paper.  For the popcorn, I copied an illustration for an ear of corn.  For the flour and sugar canisters, I copied my favorite recipes for the two side panels.  I really want one with a picture of Cookie Monster for a cookie jar but so far I haven't been able to copy a decent picture of Cookie Monster.

To make the labels, I scanned the desired pictures into a graphics program and sized it to the proper size.  After printing out, I sprayed each picture, front and back with a fixative.   This adds body to the paper and also helps prevent the ink from running.

Cut out the labels and glue in place on the cans.  Allow glue to dry then spray with a clear acrylic sealer.  This will make the labels water resistant so it's easy to wipe off any cooking spills