DIY BROWN SUGAR KEEPER

DIY: How to make your very own

BROWN SUGAR KEEPERS

I love these cute little simple crafts like this.  I first saw these items in the country store called THE MASON JAR in West Virginia last year.  Every since then I've been dying to give them a try on my own.

And here's how mine turned out.

I started off by ordering me a pound of natural air drying red clay on ebay.  I got the Activia brand, in a one pound package for around $10.00.

This type is self hardening so there's no need to fire or bake them,
super strength and has a low shrinkage rate. So I figured this was all good.
I'm sure this one pound package will make a lot of brown sugar keepers, just no idea how many yet.

The first thing I did was to lay out some wax paper on my counter and get out the rolling pin and some of my stamps. These are regular stamps you use in crafts for ink and paper. They work great here.

I'm not sure why I did not roll it out on the wax paper, DUH, but i did lay them on it to dry!

 I stamped them, then I cut them out with the makeshift tea bag strainer for a cutter.

Just peel away the rest and reuse it again.

 Take a spatula, scoop up the keepers easily and

 lay them out on  a sheet of wax paper to air dry.

Here they are up close. They measure approximately 2 inches.

I used stamps to decorate them, although this is not necessary, I thought it added a cute touch. 
I looked and looked for my mason jar cookie cutter, but sadly I can't find it. I think that would've been super cute!

 (Note, the thicker your keeper, the longer it will retain moisture!)
But I'm going with about a half inch thick to start off with and see how it goes.

AND THEN:
After letting them set and air dry for what seemed like eternity, almost two days really, I was ready to package them up.
(That is a good sign though, air drying for so long, I know now that in an air tight container, these will hold moisture good!)

I used AVERY label maker to make some bag toppers and inserts for instructions with those cute graphics you see.

And for a baggie to put them in, I used the large bakery cookie treat bags found in the bakery section at Walmart.

And now they are ready to go.  I think these will be a great grab and go cheap craft for anyone to get or give as a gift. I am going to price them at $2.49 each.

I so cannot wait to find my Mason jar cookie cutter and make them in that shape. I'm sure they will fly off the shelf!

Happy Crafting ya'll,
see ya next time.
~Lisa
www.booth555.com