Manicure kit in a jar

Earlier this summer one of my cousins celebrated her eleventh birthday (girls turning eleven was a theme for me this summer), and I decided to give her a fun manicure kit in a specially decorated jar.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Night of Navy, Lemon Lime Twist, Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy card stock
Accessories: Stitched Shapes, Layering Circles, Circles Collection, Flower Fair, Secret Garden Framelits dies; Decorative Dots embossing folder; Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack; rhinestones; pink letter stickers (unknown); navy organdy ribbon; Night of Navy seam binding ribbon; Dimensionals; Glue Dots; Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

Isn't that cute? The jar itself was left over from trail mix. I'd saved it, certain I would find a way to put it to good use. The contents included a set of nail tools (clippers, file, etc.) in a decorative holder, light pink and sparkly clear nail polishes, nail polish remover pads (safer than liquid nail polish remover when one has four younger siblings running around) and nail art stickers. The original package from the stickers wouldn't fit in the jar, so I opened the pack and put them in a small resealable bag. To keep with the theme, I used cotton balls as the packing material inside the jar.

When it came to decorating the jar, I used the holder from the set of nail tools as my inspiration. I love the bright flowers combined with the navy background, so I selected a few Stampin' Up! card stock colors to coordinate: Night of Navy, Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lime Twist, and Emerald Envy. I wrapped the jar with the navy card stock and a length of navy organdy ribbon. I die cut flowers and leaves and adhered them around the jar, adding accents with a mini punch and, of course, some rhinestones. You gotta have a little bling, right?

For the lid I die cut a large Night of Navy circle for the background. I cut a smaller Lemon Lime Twist stitched circle for the focal layer and matted it with a scalloped Emerald Envy circle. I practiced handwriting "Monica's Manicures" a few times, but I couldn't get it quite right, so I decided to look through my alphabet stickers instead. I found some small pink circles with white letters that were a really close match to Flirty Flamingo. Perfect! I spelled out the words on the Lemon Lime Twist circle then adhered it to the navy circle slightly off-center. I added a die-cut flower and a few rhinestones, and to finish the lid I wrapped Night of Navy seam binding ribbon around the edge.

I don't make a lot of gift packaging for kids, because I know in all the birthday hoopla it will most likely just get tossed and not really appreciated. (What's inside is a lot more important than what the outside looks like.) But this project has a little more "permanent" feel, and I think it will look cute sitting on the recipient's dresser or bookshelf. It was a fun project to put together!

Thanks for stopping by!