Two years on from my original Jar Project – that’s sadly now still in England – I thought I’d revisit the project with a twist. My original jar project houses one good memory per colourful sheet – I used to note down anything that made me smile, fun things I did or had talked about with best friends, or even mini blog milestones! You can see my original post here. I’m certainly going to have a little read through it at Christmas when I'm home.
The concept is simple: clear out and clean a Kilner jar, pop a label on the side and fill it up with little notes. It’s a surprisingly fun, homemade, offline way to unwind and document thoughts. This time round I’m deciding between two main ideas: a gratitude jar or a ‘Line A Day’ jar. But I’ve also gone ahead and plotted out some other pretty sweet ideas. Grab your
The Gratitude Jar
Wrap a yellow ribbon around the neck of your jar and label it Gratitude. Every single day – good or bad – scribble down one thing you’re grateful for, date it, fold it up and pop it in. Practicing gratitude is scientifically proven to increase happiness by 25%: it can be as simple as ‘I’m grateful for a sun-soaked morning before the pitter-patter of rainfall in the afternoon,’ or ‘I’m grateful for friends that get my Pokemon jokes’. Once a month, peek inside and reflect on all of the daily things that make life great. There’s oh so much to be appreciative of, even on Mondays!
A Line A Day
I can’t think of a ribbon theme for this one, but label your jar up and let’s go. This one can be used in two ways: to document your day in one line, or to write a creative sentence daily with the end-goal of creating a sweet, mismatched story. Did you ever play that at school in English? Writing a line each, folding the page down and reading a batsh*t crazy story out? Confining yourself to one line means you’ll naturally begin to subconsciously draw out your favorite things about each day, however unexpected.
Wishes
One for the dreamer, it has to be a strand of baby blue ribbon with this. Let’s go all out and use ivory white paper too. Every single time you wish something – literally or metaphorically – write it down. ‘I wish it was Friday’, ‘I wish I could Apparate to the fridge’, ‘I wish I had the courage to do XYZ’. Write them down. A tangible reminder of what you want can help push you to greater levels without even realising it!
Date Ideas
I adore this jar idea. Plait some tonal red and pink ribbon together and wrap it around your jar. Heck, throw in some heart-shaped confetti if you want! A cute idea for married couples – I’m considering doing this for my best friend – who have perhaps already been on every date idea, for new or long-distance couples or as an anniversary gift, simply scribe date ideas, simple or complex, onto strips of paper. Once that weekly date night rolls around, open the jar and do whatever that chosen strip says. Pardon the pun, I'm not suggesting y'all to literally strip for date night(!)
Sunday Nights
Tie your jar with some mint green ribbon and label it Sunday. Ah that pretty day of the week. Filled with promise of relaxation but equally weighted with pre-Monday dread, fill up your jar with idyllic Sunday things. And I mean every single thing you ever think of doing on a Sunday. ‘Bake cookies’, ‘don’t move from bed for 5 hours’, ‘read a book with no interruptions’, ‘go on a hike’, ‘explore a new city’, you know the sort. Pop it on your bedside table and upon waking up, take a lucky dip to see how the day will pan out. 'Eat my body weight in brownies' - hey, the jar told me to.
Food Bucket List
Need I say more? Every time you hear about a restaurant you’d like to visit, add it to a strip of paper with its address and fold it up. Pop in the jar. Once a dinner date with the girls rolls around, dip into it and go to whichever place you’ve picked. The most simple way to check off all those eateries. This would make a lovely gift idea for friends moving to your city too!
Blog Post Prompts
For the budding blogger, washi tape that jar right up. Go on. Fill this jar up with blog post prompts from this post or this one plus any lurking in your notebook that gets lost all the time. This now lives beside your laptop or on your desk, ok? Delve in every time you have a little Writer’s Block. Et voila!
Sims Names
Alright, we’re getting into truly nerdy territory now but hear me out. Sims names. So you’ll need to wrap some green, amber and red Sims moodlet ribbons round that jar. Fill your jar with scraps of paper reading all manner of names with a surname on the back. As many as you possibly can. You’ll never struggle to name new families or newborns ever again!
Learning with Kids
I also wanted to add an option for mommy bloggers. Something my Mama used to do with me was rewrite every sentence of a Biff & Chip book onto strips of paper and shuffle them up. She’d let me read each sentence myself and arrange them into my own version of the story. This is an amazing choice to help kick-start and perpetuate creativity without it being too pressing for kids. I think it’d be best suited to KS1 primary school kids! You could make it a weekly activity when your little one brings their book home to read.
If you decide to create a jar, be sure to let me know as well as which one you picked, so I can have a snoop at your Instagram or posts!
