Pounds Lost, Pounds Left to Lose Jars

I am very excited for today's post because it is a DIY project and it is one that I have been wanting to complete for months. If you have read the title, you know today's post features weight loss progress jars.


For this project I used:

Supplies I Used

• Ribbon (any size you like)
• A Sharpie permanent marker and a pencil
• A Bath and Body Works gift / hang tag (for tracing purposes)
• Marbles (for progress purposes)
• Scissors
• A hot glue gun
• 2 jars (I used Bath and Body Works candle jars, removing any left over wax beforehand)
• A hole punch
• Thick paper (for the labels)

Here are the steps I took to create these jars. If you are pretty crafty, you will probably be able to cut some steps in half (step one specifically) or cut some steps out all together.

Steps 3 and 4

1. First, I removed any leftover wax from the candle jars. I did put one candle in the freezer for about an hour before taking it out and letting it rest for about 5 minutes. I then used a sharp knife to carve four sections that I was then able to then pop out. For the second candle, I simply cut the wax out, skipping the freezing portion. 
2. I let the jars soak overnight in dish detergent before washing them in the morning and letting them drain. 
3. I took a thick piece of paper and used a leftover Bath and Body Works Christmas hang tag to trace the shape before cutting it out. This will serve as the labels for the jars indicating which one shows weight lost to date and which one shows weight left to lose. 
4. Using the hole punch, I punched a hole at the end of the tag and threaded the ribbon through the hole.
5. I made sure the jars were dry both inside and out before taking my hot glue gun and adhering the ribbon to the jars. I placed the ribbon about a half an inch to an inch away from the top of each jar, but I am sure placing the ribbon in the middle will look nice as well. 
6. The last step was filling each jar with the marbles!

Step 5

Step 6 (Finished Project)

There are 20 marbles in the pounds lost jar, indicating the pounds I lost during 2013. There are 43 marbles in the pounds left to lose jar indicating the weight I have left to lose.

Side note, I found some motivational print outs on Trendy TreeHouse that I may go back and add to some of the marbles. If so, a few larger marbles will be necessary. 

DIY Project

I have stated several times that I have a few DIY projects that need to be completed. For one, I was supposed to complete my weight loss progress jars a few months ago. That was something I started in my head but failed to actually put in motion. Following that, there were several weight loss related DIY projects that I wanted to start, but never did.

This past weekend, as I was on my way home from my weekend trip to the mountains, I passed by a set of chairs sitting at the end of someone's driveway. I wasn't driving and was able to see that although the chairs were at the end of the driveway, they had a free sign on them (although the sign was laying flat by now).

To make what would other wise be a long story short, someone picked up the chairs for me and this post serves as my official announcement of my next (and soon to be completed) DIY project. Resorting these soon to be decorative items.

I have no idea where I am going to start. I believe I saw a post on Instagram where someone redid their entire backyard patio area, but of course I don't remember who they were.

I know my first stop will be Michael's but I have no idea where I will go from there. My hope is to remove all of the rust, change the color of the paint (once the rust is removed) and re-do the lattice on the seat and back.



Of course this won't be a one day job, I am thinking about stretching it out over 3 days. There is no need to rush it, which was my problem when it came to my weight-loss related projects. I had a great idea, but didn't time myself to the best of my ability.

I would love to have these chairs done by the end of October, but no later than Thanksgiving.

As times goes on, I will post my updates and (hopefully) post my finished results in a couple of weeks!