Elephant Jars

Use Trinkets for a Special Touch on Your Rustic Decor

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We've all got a drawer full of trinkets and mementos - what good are they besides adding to the clutter?

Elephant Jars - using trinkets to decorate your rustic crafts...

These are two such little ornaments - elephants made from some kind of heavy metal. They are mounted on the little plinths (both different) with screws, one each in opposing legs.

I just discovered some script on the base of one of them, which says; Safety Award. No idea where they came from. Someone contributed them to the diy hoard!

Elephant trophies like this one are all over the place

I've been looking for fancy drawer pulls like crystal ones to make little jars with the pulls mounted on the lid. These elephants will do the trick!

I unscrewed the base of each one, and then mounted them in the exact same manner onto little mustard jars to make a cute little storage unit for beads or other small items.

Dismantling the elephant trophies by unscrewing the two screws

The lids of the jars were painted black, but I decided to give them a coat of Hammered finish spray paint.

You can find this kind of paint in most hardware stores, or buy it from Amazon.

Rustoleum Hammered Bronze spray paint

Rust-Oleum, Hammered Dark Bronze 258199 Universal All Surface Spray Paint, 12 oz

They would be great for in the bathroom to hold q-tips or cotton balls, or for spangly gems or glass beads where they would catch the sun.

I tried to use the tiny screws that they were attached to the plinth with, but they were too long. Cutting them off with a hacksaw made them too short.

The finished Elephant Jars - they're slightly different, which I like better

So, I took a tiny length of wire and made a twist on the end and then glued those onto the back of the lid, with a tiny bit going through the holes. Each leg of the elephants was also glued onto that.

I used Gorilla Glue, which sticks like crazy.

Note to self; try not to get it on your fingers.

Find out more about different kinds of glue, and which will work best for your crafts here.

It also foams as it dries, which can make a mess, or, worse, push the pieces apart.

The best way to combat this is to hold the pieces together with a weight, in the vice, or with a clamp.

The finished piece will hold together well, but usually won't take any pressure. Using it to glue these elephants on as an ornament or just to lift the lid will be fine.

These were sent to a family member who is battling breast cancer - they indicate the strength she'll need in her fight.

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