Make Your Own Winnie the Pooh Hunny Jars

When I was a kid, my mom bought me the Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne. I LOVED them. They’re full of everything that’s magical about childhood — innocent and kind, and full of imagination.

So when I set out to style my new Bee themed table runner, my first thought was of Hunny jars (my kids keep telling me I’m spelling that wrong). I have a tight advertising budget, so even if I could find exactly what I need at a store, I probably couldn’t afford it for a photo shoot. So off to the thrift store!

I just needed crockery jars that were the right shape, and I HIT THE JACKPOT!!!

Five jars, ideal shape, varying sizes, for a total of $9.00!!!! I can definitely afford that. And HOW PERFECT is that one on the left?! I couldn’t have asked for more. They’re a little chipped (and one a little more after I dropped it!) but that just adds to the charm.

They were also icky dirty, which isn’t charming, so they got a good scrub.

I tried spray paint first. It was a complete mess. It might have worked if I’d kept adding layers but it wasn’t worth it to me.

So I switched gears and went with glossy finish acrylic paint. (If you’re putting food in the jars, make sure your paint is food-safe!)

I only needed them for one-time use, so I didn’t prep the surface or anything. That would be wise if you want to keep them around. It worked out great for me because my first attempt looked like garbage, so I just pealed the paint off.

This paint dries fast, so to keep it from looking messy and goopy (like my first attempt) I switched to a big house painting brush. It worked beautifully. It also covered better when I alternated directions for the second and third coats — yes, it took three coats to cover the existing designs on the jars.

Each coat just took a few minutes, and I left an hour to dry in between. So this could be done in an afternoon and still leave you time to get other stuff done.

My kids begged to help so I let them take a stab at it. If they made a complete mess I could always start over (and I did, don’t tell!).

I wanted to hot glue some bees onto the jars but I couldn’t find any at the craft store. So I came up with an easy solution (see photo). Each bee is one pom pom and a black pipe cleaner.

I spent an hour trying to figure out the best way to get the look I wanted. Of course I started with the most complicated way possible. In the end, my favorite look also turned out to be the easiest {eye roll}.

Just twist the pipe cleaner twice around a pencil to make wings. Then slide it off and give the wings each a little turn to keep them from unlooping. Wrap the pipe cleaner around your pom pom so the wings are snug against it, and twist the ends together under your bee’s little belly. Trim off the ends as close as you can and flatten them to the pom pom. Your kids can even do it — they’ll love it.

I’m pretty happy with the final results!