'Fairy in a Jar' with Tips and Hints

My lovely crafty friend Amy Love hosted a Fairy in a Jar Swap over on youtube. I jumped in and made this wee thing for my dear partner. (*waves* Hi Kim!)

There are loads of tutorials available for this sort of project. Instead thought I'd put together some helpful hints and tips instead. Here's the whole list, but you can hop over to the video version if you like

• To make sure your fairy and wings are sturdy. I've had some professionally printed on very thick card but if you're printing your own, glue your printout to a sheet of thick scrapbook paper to add a bit of heft.

• The back of my fairy (and her wings) have a subtle black pattern. This gives a nice clean finish and isn't visually distracting if someone peeks at the back of the piece.

• Ink your edges. I run a lining brush loaded with black paint around my cut edges. This camouflages cut edges so you don't see the white core of the paper.

• Apply wings on an angle to help give the impression of a 3d figure rather than a flat image.

• Many jars have a seam in the glass. Try to be aware of where this is and embellish your jar so it is hidden from view.

• Use sheet moss rather than loose moss. It comes in clumps and will be cleaner and easier to apply than the loose variety.

• Take care to position the paper fairy in such a way that it is not distorted by bend or bevels in the glass. If this means a little surgury, and chopping off feet, have at it!

• Hot glue dries fast and hard and is a good choice to keep your fairy in place.

• Use embellishments to provide additional support to your fairy.

• You can use scissors as tweezers for larger items. You don't want to squeeze too hard or you'll leave cut marks, but with gentle handling they can be incredibly useful for items too large for regular tweezers.

• To deal with wispy hot glue strands, give a little blast with a hot glue gun.

• Use a clean, dry brush to tidy up inside the jar.

• A pinch of glitter can go a long way to adding a magical effect.

Supplies:

Thick Fairy Jar Collage Sheet Set

or to print your own
English Fairy Garden Collage Sheet
Little People Collage Sheet
Mini Red Pip Berry Garland*
Sheet Moss*
Dark Red Holly Berries 
Petaloo - Botanica Collection - Anenome

Paper flowers

Jute twine
Glass jar

Hot glue