How to Make a Faux Olive Jar

It seems to me that in life, people can be divided into two categories: those who upon entering a store will head straight for the clearance section and those who don’t.

I’m definitely a head straight for the clearance section kind of girl. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging those who want to check out what the latest styles are to arrive in the department store or the new seasonal decor versus that ‘last season’ stuff. But there is just something in me that absolutely MUST make sure that I’m not missing out on some kind of amazing deal.

But, there are some things that just never seem to go on sale. Or when they do, they are STILL way  more than you would ever want to pay. I mean, it’s not just about whether or not you actually have the money for it. Sometimes, it’s the principle of it, you know?

Case in point…olive jars. I like them. I want them. Don’t ask why but I’m slightly obsessed with them. It’s totally irrational and makes no sense. Kind of like how my husband absolutely CANNOT stand to see those videos where it’s a dog’s head with a person’s arms inside a coat and the ‘dog’ is doing very ‘human’ things. Those totally freak him out and we could be totally sympathetic about this irrational fear but instead we just tease him by saying things like “Hey, come see this cool video we just found!” and then we all laugh hysterically as he jumps out of his skin.

After months of occasionally checking online sources and the aisles of every home store I would go in, I was never able to find an olive jar for under $50. And that’s just too much in my book. Even if we do really like olives! 😉

So, I dug through my stash of jars and pots until I found one that I thought I might be able to transform.

This one was the winner!

I applied a couple of coats of white paint.

Then I applied brown paint to the bottom half working my way up and then using the paint brush, creating a wavy edge all the way around.

A little bit of distressing and I had myself a ‘faux’ olive jar.

Now, it may not be exactly like the real deal. But then again, the ‘real’ deals that I’ve been seeing online aren’t even the ‘real’ deal, are they? They’re all reproductions of olive jars from days gone by. From yesteryear. From yore.

I think that ‘yore’ is a word that should really get back into circulation don’t you?

It doesn’t seem to matter anymore to me whether or not I ‘can’ purchase an item. Even if I had the extra money lying around to spend on something like an authentic olive jar, I know that I would never be able to bring myself to do it.

It’s more of a ‘should’ then a ‘could’ at this point, you know?

So, I’ll just keep on steering that cart straight to the clearance aisle.

And if I don’t find the perfect hidden treasure as I dig through the mounds of deals then, well, then I’ll just have to make those treasures myself!

Thanks so much for meeting me at the Fence today!