Plaited Jute And Antiqued Wood Jar Label

The other day, I was in Hobby Lobby and noticed that they had their glass items on sale for 50% off. I’ve been wanting a pretty decorative jar for my utility “room” to keep the detergent in, so I bought one. I also wanted to make a creative label for it, but I had a heck of a time figuring out what to do. Chalkboard tag? I’ve done that. Painted dimensional label? I’ve done that, too. Etched glass label? Done it.

So after giving it some thought, I came up with the idea of a plaited jute and wood jar label.

It’s simple and earthy.  I like it.    Here’s how I did it…

I started with some 2″ wood letters from Hobby Lobby, and I painted them orange.

While my letters dried, I moved on to the braided jute.  I started with eight strands, but quickly realized that braiding eight strands of jute required a lot more patience than I was willing to put into this little project.  So I reduced the number of strands to five.

I braided enough jute to wrap completely around my glass container, and then secured the ends with painters tape so they wouldn’t come unbraided.

Then I used a very small amount of hot glue to secure the braid to the jar.

And tied the ends together in the back.  I left a little bit of jute and unraveled the strands so that they looked like this…

By that time, my letters were dry, so I gave them a quick sanding and antiqued them with some stain.

And then I hot glued them right onto the braided jute.

I like how it turned out!  And I really like the natural jute and the antiqued letters on the shiny glass.

If you’ve never braided with more than three strands, it’s really not difficult at all.  I won’t go into the details here, but you can find loads of YouTube videos that describe (and show) the process.  That’s where I learned!