As I start to prepare for nursing school next year, my list making has become extra compulsive. I make lists at 4am when I bolt upright, suddenly awake from a terrible nightmare, others during A&P when my professor tells a story one too many times and even mental lists when I drive.
These lists include future plans, hopes and goals. One of my big goals/hopes/plans is to get an apartment next year. My sweet friend MacKenzie and I have been dreaming of our own place, after putting together the cutest dorm ever, and I pray that it works out!
One of the most exciting things for me personally about a place of my own is the challenge of decorating. I saw a poster the other day that claimed to break down the costs of everything you would need in a first apartment.
Phooey, bologna, lies I thought.
Craigslist, Michael's and Home Depot are in my D.I.Y. budget busting arsenal. I would love to take our itsy bitsy college budgets and make something fabulous. And then continue to pin it all over pinterest like any good social media lover does. Duh.
And so began the following project.
The other day I was sitting at my desk, staring at the rain attempting to focus. I suddenly remembered I had some yummy smelling dishsoap that was sent to me in my complimentary {Influenster} {Palmolive Fresh Infusions} box. What was I to-do with three big bottles of soap? I had remembered pinning a couple of soap dispenser ideas a while back and thought about making my own version.
Much to my chagrin I didn't happen to have any empty bottles of Jack Daniels lying around and a plastic Diet Coke bottle just didn't seem as charming.
I looked to my closet next.
My closet contains the majority of my craft hoard including my sweet Mason Jars. Having just brought MacKenzie some homemade cookies in a jar the last time I went to visit I thought it would be the perfect sweet soap dispenser for our {hopeful} future apartment.
And this is how it unfolded:
For some reason, that I have never understood, my mason jars do not have the handy little flat piece that seals the jar. I knew I needed to put something on the top and it had to be able to stand up to soap sloshing onto it occasionally.
I took some patterned card stock and packing tape and laminated away, both front and back.
Next I placed the lid of my mason jar onto the bottom side of my paper and traced. This gave me a good idea of how big I needed make the circle.
Using a simple pair of scissors, cut out your traced circle. You should cut it out slightly smaller than the traced circle so that it will actually fit into the lid and not just surround it.
The first layer of reinforcement was made up of packing tape. I taped up the whole bottom of the lid and made sure that there were no gaps or unprotected points.
I then poked a hole in the top of the paper using a craft knife, but a hole punch would work fabulously as well. I slid the soap dispenser in through the hole, making it wider as the contraption came together.
I then hot glued the entire thing included the pump to the paper.
It should look something like this, how easy!
I had loved the scent and feel of my Palmolive fresh infusions so much that I thought I would use them in my new dispenser. My favorite by far was the lemon thyme as it had made my hands soft and also kept them smelling nice hours later.
I quickly realized that my new dispenser was much larger than my Palmolive bottles. So, I decided to get wild and combine two scents. I thought the ginger white tea scent was also promising and so into the jar it went.
The two created the most beautiful smell and looked nice too.
The best part about this whole project, its budget friendly! Mason jars run about $10 for a large pack and you can get them at any grocery store. The craft paper is also cheap, cheap, cheap and with the actual mason jar lid you could always just glue it to the top of the lid and skip the whole "laminating" step. And best of all, the delicious, girly dish soap can be purchased at Walmart.
A perfect easy, inexpensive afternoon pick me up project in my opinion!