Decoupage scarecrow jar craft

I’ve always been a fan of decoupage, but I also love to paint and create. So here I joined the two in harmony!

Painting on jars is easy, but painting right on the glass requires dry time in between coats — and if you don’t, your paint can peel. It also requires prepping the glass with a vinegar wash. By decoupaging the glass first, you’ve created a surface you can paint that will stay put and doesn’t require a bunch of prep work.

You will need

• 1 recycled glass jar with lid (mine is from pizza sauce)
• 1 sheet white tissue paper
• white craft glue
• hot glue gun
• water
• 1 small paint brush
• 1 large paint brush
• acrylic craft paint in sunflower or peach
• acrylic craft paint in orange, pink, white and black
• handful of cotton batting (cotton balls work too)
• 1 sheet of tan felt
• 1/2 sheet of goldenrod felt
• large scrap of tan felt
• small scrap of brown felt
• 12″ scrap of fabric (I used boxer shorts!)
• black fine tip marker
• scissors
• acrylic sealer spray in matte or gloss finish (your preference)

What you do

First, measure around the top of the jar, just under the mouth and measure the height of the jar as well. Record these measurements on a piece of paper and set aside for later. Put about a quarter-sized blob of white craft glue into a small container or bowl and thin it with some water. You want the mixture to be thin and paintable, but not really watery. Tear the white tissue paper into squares. (It’s better to tear instead of cut, the torn edges stick better.)

Remove the lid from the jar and set aside. Hold the jar by the opening and use the large paintbrush to add the glue mixture to a small section of the jar. Use the tip of the wet paintbrush to pick up a square of tissue paper and put it on the jar. You can pick it up with your fingers if you like, but with the brush is much faster. Continue this process, overlapping the tissue paper until the entire jar is covered. Repeat the process so that there are two layers. Set aside to dry completely.

Meanwhile, make the hat by laying out the tan felt on your work surface. Place the jar lid in the center of the felt and lightly trace around it, remove the lid and set aside. Wad up the hadful of cotton batting in your palm and hot glue the batting to the circle on the felt.

Next, hot glue the top of the jar lid to the batting. Lift up the felt and cradle it in your palm, felt touching your hand and the bottom of the jar lid should be facing upward. Curl your fingers around the felt and the batting so that the sides of the felt curl around the lid.

Use hot glue gun to tack the felt to the sides of the jar lid. Use scissors to trim the felt into a brim for your hat. Wrap fabric strip around the hat to create the band. Once positioned, tack in place with hot glue. Now you can continue around the hat and glue the band in place, trim the excess. Cut a simple flower out of tan felt and glue onto the seam of the hat band. Cut a circle from the brown felt and glue to the center of the flower. When jar is dry, paint it with Sunflower or peach colored acrylic paint. Let dry.

Important note

Before painting on the face you will want to place the jar lid onto the jar to see where the front of the hat lines up. Once the lid is on the jar, use black marker to make a small dot in the center of the jar where the nose will be. Remove the hat and set aside. Use orange to paint on a triangle nose, white to add two oval eyes, and pink to add cheeks. Use the bottom end of the large paint brush to dot on the black for the eyes. Let the paint dry.

While the paint is drying, make the hair. The width and length of the goldenrod felt will depend on the size of your jar. Refer to the measurements you recorded at the beginning of this project. The length of your felt should equal 3/4 of the top of the jar, and the width of your felt should equal 3/4 of the height of your jar.

Fringe the felt with a pair of scissors. Position the center of the piece of felt to the back of the jar. Wrap it around gently to see if any trimming is needed. You will hot glue the felt below the mouth of the jar, you still want to be able to screw the lid on. Use black marker to add on eyebrows and stitched mouth. I also dotted on a few freckles.

Spray entire jar with acrylic sealer spray and let dry. Screw the lid on and you are done! (You can add a battery operated flickering tea light, available at any craft store. It looks really cute all lit up!)

More crafts for kids

• Rainy day crafts for kids from the kitchen
• Arts & Crafts: beyond paint with water
• 3 Fall crafts for kids