From Empty Candle Jar to Embellished Face Cream Jar

In February on a Saturday, I started a thing. I was in the throes of Pinterest-envy after seeing a photo of an absolutely beautiful vanity area. I studied that photo for a long while, trying to determine how I could improve my own vanity area.

This area is my own personal space. No one else uses it. I fix my hair, wash and make-up my face, and take care of general above-the-shoulder grooming in this space. Unfortunately, I allowed it to become terribly cluttered with my stuff, leaving me with great dissatisfaction in its appearance. I wanted to redo my space, but this project is cosmetic and therefore not a spending priority. I needed to do this with minimal expense.

One of the aspects of the Pinterest vanity that was very doable for my circumstance was it had a clean look to the counter space, no clutter. On the counter was a small vase of flowers, what looked like a bottle of body spray or cologne, a small soap dish for hand soap, and a lovely decorative jar, perhaps containing powder or moisturizing cream, but nothing else. My counter, in contrast, had all of my makeup, a toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, hair straightener and a bunch fo scrunchies, and my phone.

I work on personal space/ personal belongings activities on Saturdays. So this first Saturday I cleared off the counter, and reorganized the cabinet under the sink and the wall cabinet. It already looked tons better. I was unsure if I'd be able to maintain this streamlined look. But here we are, a month later and yes, I have been able to keep it tidy. 

The next Saturday I went through my craft supplies and found some faux white flowers and a silver mint julep cup to use as a vase in imitation of the floral bouquet on the Pinterest vanity. I also collected my prettier perfume and cologne bottles and lined them up on a long and narrow cut glass cracker tray that had been my parents. 

The one cosmetic/grooming item that I felt I wanted to leave on the counter is my jar of CeraVe moisturizing cream. I use this all day long and didn't really have a convenient alternative place to keep it.  But I did want to stick with a more elegant look than a plastic commercial jar. Then I thought of the decorative jar in the photo and I had an inspiration. I had recently emptied a Bath & Body Works candle jar. I've seen lots of up-cycled candle jars online and have wanted to do something with this one jar. 

As you can see, the jar of moisturizing cream fits perfectly inside the empty candle jar. With the lid off of the cream jar, I could simply lift the candle jar lid off to access the moisturizer, no unscrewing necessary.

Another Saturday later I began my own up-cycle. One requirement I had for myself in this jar transformation was that I could not buy anything new to do this. I decided to go with a white glass look, with additions of matte gold and pearl beads. I used ordinary white acrylic paint on the inside of the jar (about 5 or 6 coats). Acrylic paint on the outside of glass can look flat. Paint on the inside of the jar gives the illusion of white glass. Once all of the layers of white paint had thoroughly dried, I used painters' tape to spray paint gold on the outside of the jar and on the lid.

And finally, this weekend I glued the pearl beads onto the lid. I'm happy with how it turned out. I still need to spray a clear sealer inside the jar to protect the acrylic paint from chipping. But I can do that this next Saturday.

Once I began poking through my craft supplies I realized that I have a lot of useful paints and trims to use in projects. I had the white acrylic paint, the matte gold spray paint, the pearl beads, and glue to adhere them. I "borrowed" a foot of painters' tape from my daughter and the rest was just a matter of my time, which actually became a very enjoyable weekend activity.

I continue to work on this vanity space. I have a towel ring that I held onto when we spruced up a bathroom 20 years ago. It has a very 1970s vibe in its antiqued brass finish. I plan on spray painting this a creamy white. I also plan on painting the walls surrounding this little spot and finding a new place to keep my phone. For now, I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far. I must admit, the biggest improvement came from cleaning up the counter and using under sink and wall cabinet storage for everything I use for grooming. I've already adjusted to opening cabinet doors to access my stuff. While not as convenient as just keeping everything on the counter, the pleasure I receive from seeing a more inviting space makes that trade-off worth it. When I finish it all up, I'll show it to you. Or at least when I've made more progress.