How to Make a Penguin from a Tin Can and a Piece of String: The pursuit of Happiness...

My baby will be turning one in September and I have decided the theme for his birthday is going to be "Happiness is...". I have so many ideas and most of them are going to be handmade so I got an early start.

I love being green and one of my favourite things is upcycling or re-purposing items. I can't throw anything away because there is a voice in the back of my head that says " I'm sure I could use that to make something.". One of those things happens to be baby food jars.

If you like what you see but don't want to make it yourself or simply don't have time please email me and place an order. jen.astara @gmail.com

I used the stage 2 Purity jar for this project because it suited my requirements. Here's what you'll need to make a very novel invite:

Baby food jar and lid (cleaned and all labels removed)

Insulation tape

Glitter paper/ cardboard for the lid

Smiley face buttons

Thin blue ribbon

Printer paper in blue and yellow

Jelly beans

Craft Glue

Glue gun

Scissors
4cm wide sticky tape

First I started with the lid. Wrap the side of the lid in insulation tape. The side is about half the width of the tape so the other half will be standing straight up.

Then make vertical cuts in the insulation tape as shown below.

Carefully press the flaps down so they stick to the lid. You will be left with a small piece of the lid showing.

Trace around the lid on the back of the paper you wish to use and cut it out. I used a compass for more accuracy. Using the craft glue, stick the circle onto the lid and leave to dry.

I then took the smiley face buttons and tied a ribbon behind it. You can make them short, like this pink one or longer like the blue one below.

Using your glue gun attach the smiley to the lid.

For the outside of the jar I cut a piece of blue printer paper 3.5x7 cm and on yellow paper printed "happiness is...". I cut the yellow paper to fit inside the blue and glued the two together. Using wide sticky tape (about 4cm width) I stuck the label to the bottle.

I printed the invitation on the same blue paper as above so that it measured 5x21 cm. I then began to make a napkin ring type holder for it. I used Mr Happy from the Mr men and to save ink printed in black ink only on yellow paper and cut him out. Then I cut ribbons of about 4cm in length.