I want my Mummy!

Once again, I had a creative itch!  I always send some cutesy Halloween decoration to my son and daughter-in-law.  It is never anything expensive and, more oft than not, something up-cycled.  They understand my never-ending urge to recycle "trash" into something that can be used again! I have the most patient kids in the world!  That old saying "reuse, repurpose or recycle rings true in my craft room!  Today's repurposing item?  Peanut butter jars!  I had saved (why?) a good number of these jars over the past year and now was the perfect opportunity to reuse them! No..I did not eat all that peanut butter..I do not even like the stuff but Michael eats lots of peanut butter sandwiches for midnight snacks!  The crafter in me just could not toss these nice bottles!

My Halloween crafty gift to Mark and Joanna is a whole slew of luminaries to line their walkway!  They always have many, many Trick-or-treaters!  They decorate their house and yard with all sorts of happy decorations each year so I add to their collection.  Some things like these luminaries can be tossed away if, by chance, they become soiled or to tattered.  (Although, in this case, tattered might not matter much!)  The luminaries are made to look like mummies!  Most of the instructions for luminaries call for using Mason Jars! These could possibly break if some child slipped and fell on them!  A child being hurt would be devastating! The peanut butter jars are plastic and will eliminate that possibility!  Also, imagine wasting a perfectly good canning jar in such a way!  I hoard my canning jars like nobody's business so the peanut butter jars suited the bill to a T!  Yes, they are plastic and would melt if I used lit candles.  So I figured that battery-operated flicker lights would be the best bet!

Peanut Butter Jar Mummy!

The mummies are made from just a (40oz) peanut butter jar, cheesecloth, two 1 inch in diameter wiggle eyes and white glue!  Oh..and a flicker candle adds the light!

Roll out a section of cheesecloth.  Do not unfold it.   Lay a jar on its side and roll the cheesecloth around the jar to fully cover it allow it to overlap by about an inch.  Measure.  Cut the cheesecloth along that measurement.  The cheesecloth will be a bit "taller" than the jar but that is ok.

Smear white glue over the sides of the jar.  Do not cover the bottom as you have to have somewhere to set it to dry!  Wrap the cheese cloth around the jar over the glue. Smear a bit of glue around the inside top of the jar..maybe about an inch down the side.  Tuck the overlapping cheesecloth down inside the jar and press against the glue. Set aside. (See..that ungluey part is handy!)

Experiment with placing the eyes.  Once you figure out where you want them, glue them in place.

Leaving the cheesecloth still folded, cut four strips across the panel.   These strips should be about two inches in width (don't bother measuring..just guess).  Unfold the strips.

Place a glob of glue at the top edge of the jar.  Stick one end of the first strip of cheesecloth to the glue and start wrapping loosely around the jar going diagonally around to the bottom.  Twist or fold the strip occasionally to give added dimension. You do not have to glue the whole strip..just the ends.  (Do not be overly neat..this is supposed to be an old mummy!) Cross above or below the eyes.  Starting in a different place on the jar, glue on two of the other strips criss-crossing as you go. Leave the ends dangle.

Peanut butter jars have a slight bump in the bottom that makes the flicker candle wobble a bit.  To solve this problem, I merely used the fourth strip of cheesecloth.  To balance the flicker candle, just plop this in the bottom..no gluing necessary!  Glow sticks would work great as lighting as well.  DO NOT USE REAL CANDLES..obviously!  Otherwise, your mummies will go up in flames!

You will be surprised at just how much light these little guys emit!  I placed them in my hallway to test them.  This is the darkest place in the Little Bayou House.  They actually lit it quite nicely!

This project is all over the internet..I did not "invent" these but just thought they were so cute.  So...reuse, repurpose, recycle but most of all...have fun making your own mummies!!!