Fall-O-Ween Treat Jar

Fun Autumn snacks deserve a fun place to reside ... until they're snatched up and devoured! Our family loves candy corn and peanuts mixed together ... and for those who don't know, the 3:1 ratio is perfect. Three peanuts to one candy corn ... tastes just like a Salted Nut Roll. I used scraps of hand dyed wool from my basket to make my leaves and acorn ... took a little walk in the woods and pulled down some grapevines ... found an empty jar on the shelf and got to work.

You'll find the directions here ... just download and print.  Download Fall-O-Ween treat jar pdf

And here are the templates for the leaves and acorn. Download Fall-O-Ween jar template 0928

A limited amount of kits are available by calling the store ... 651.426.1885. The kits include hand dyed wool, jute webbing, and a tag, for $13.25. Tax and shipping is extra.

If you haven't worked with wool before, I thought it might be helpful if I gave you a few tips and some quick instructions on how to make the project. Pix are worth a thousand words you know!

Oh ... and THIS is the post where you need to comment to be in the pot for prizes! It's my turn to be the designer of the day.

If you haven't worked with freezer paper templates before, this is how you do it. Lay your freezer paper over the shape design and trace it... paper side is up. Cut around it roughly ... no need to cut on the line yet. Press the waxy side to your wool and then cut out on the line. Pull the template up and do it again ... you need two of everything for the project. I find I can get about four repeats off of a template like this.

Here are some of my favorite tools for when I make my wool projects. I rarely do anything without a tube of Roxanne's Glue Baste. #9 embroidery needles are my choice almost every time ... they'll take up to four strands of floss ... they're nice and sharp but are thin enough to slide through the wool. Clover fork pins and applique pins are perfect for wool. The fork pins are long and great for anchoring larger pieces ... the applique pins are small and sink right into the wool ... I like that my floss doesn't catch on either of these pins as I'm stitching.Tonic 5" scissors are great for cutting out the wool shapes. They're sharp right to the point and their padded handles make cutting comfortable. Plenty of these products in stock ... call the Cottage and we can ship them right out! 651.426.1885.

In the project directions when I tell you to overcast the twigs for the veins, this is what they'll look like when you're done. Make your stitches kind of uneaven and slanted in different directions. It'll give it a more rustic look.

Here's what all the pieces look like when you're done assembling them. When you get ready to put all the parts together, long stitches are just fine. You mostly only want to anchor the pieces so they won't move around on the jar.

Same on the back ... anchoring stitches but make sure you don't go through the front.

I pinned the jute webbing on to my jar and then auditioned the placement of the leaves and acorns. When I was happy with them, I used flower head pins to hold them in place. I flipped the whole thing over and used some large stitches to hold it all in place.

Some other hints ... if you can't find black safety pins, use black spray paint on regular ones. My lid on my jar was shiny so I sprayed it black. Also ... if you don't have black chipboard for your tag just use some black card stock. Use a manila tag as a pattern or cut one out on a die cut machine ... like the Big Shot ... one of my favorites!

If you don't want to fill your jar with candy corn, think about using it to store pretty things you find on a Fall hike in the woods. Or maybe some snips of pretty wool ... or fabric strips. I'm sure you'll find some fun stuff to fill it up with!

Happy Fall-O-Ween!!