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Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 7 comments

A while ago I stumbled across the most adorable mini Lego head storage jars upcycled from empty baby food jars at the very creative obSEUSSed blog, and they've been on my To Do list ever since.  However, the Big One's birthday isn't until March so I don't really need them for party favors as they are intended and they are a bit small to store many bricks in.  So, when in Target grabbing a few groceries, I was inspired by the shape of a large pot of pistachios!  The plastic pot bears an uncanny resemblance to the iconic shape of a Lego minifig head!  Perfect and a brilliant way to supersize the original idea by Victoria at www.obSEUSSed.com to become a funky and functional storage jar!




You will need...
  • A cylindrical storage jar that resembles the shape of a Lego minifigure head.  Certain brands of baby food are perfect for mini storage pots (or birthday party favors).  The large plastic drums for nuts sold in Target are perfect for bigger versions.  But keep your eyes open, especially at this time of year when large containers of nuts & snacks are on sale for the Holiday season!
  • Yellow spray paint.
  • Sheets of newspaper or cardboard to protect surfaces, and appropriate safety gear/clothing.
  • A black permanent marker or black acrylic paint (and a brush).
  • Optional: white acrylic paint.
  • Optional:  clear spray varnish for durability.

The first thing you will need to do is to carefully wash the containers and remove any labels.  Make sure any sticky residue from the label glue is removed... I use a product called Goo Gone Gel spray for getting rid of stubborn sticky marks and this worked very well for this purpose. Dry the pots carefully, and space them out evenly on a sheet of newspaper or cardboard outside in a well-ventilated area.




After reading the instructions carefully and shaking your can of paint as directed, spray a light, even coat of paint over your jars.  Don't worry if it looks patchy as it's better to do several thin coats, than one thick one that ends up dripping!  Leave 5 minutes between coats (or as long as directed on your spray can) ... I found 2 to 3 coats provided the coverage I needed.  Spray the lids too if you plan to use them.







Leave the final coat for about an hour or so, or until completely dry.  Then you can draw in the Lego minifigures features.  The poster below gives some ideas of faces you could use:





Finally, if you are intending to use the jars for functional storage, you are probably going to need to spray them with a clear varnish to protect your beautiful design!







7 Responses so far.

  1. Amazing! They turned out great! Thank you for sharing about my original project. The mini jars were fun but I've been wanting to make a larger version for storage but haven't found the right shaped jar. With Christmas goodies coming out I'll have to check Sam's and Costco. I still have some paint to use so it is just a matter of finding the jar. So glad you tried it and shared it. I'm pinning it to pinterest right now. Thanks!

  2. Thanks, Victoria! The larger tubs of nuts and trail mixes sold in Target are the perfect shape and as soon as I saw them I knew what I was going to do with them... thanks for the inspiration!

  3. Wow great work ! I see you've used designholic's poster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59104528@N08/5614282143/in/photostream

    Great use !

  4. Thanks Ikonoklast! And thanks for leaving the link to designholic's poster as I had lost the original source information for this image... it's a fab poster, right? My son loves it!

  5. Cathy C says:

    I shared this idea on my blog http://cathythinkingoutloud.blogspot.ca/ I LOVE it So clever!

  6. Wynick says:

    THESE ARE RIDICULOUSLY CUTE AND EASY!!!! I cannot wait until it warms up enough to make them for my son....Now, off to eat a vat or two of pistachios!

  7. gmanshk says:

    these are brilliant!

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