Put a Writer in a Jar

Even Shakespeare probably had writer's block at some time or another. If one of his contemporaries had given him this jar of writing prompts, he might have gotten over it a little faster. If your child has a friend who loves to write, this weekend craft is a thoughtful and personal gift that not only makes a pretty decoration for a writing desk, it's functional, too!

What You Need:

• 1 empty, clear glass jar
• Sheet of thick paper
• 1 large, blank self-stick label
• 1/8 tsp. ultrafine glitter
• Spray adhesive
• Length of ribbon that will fit around jar from top to bottom
• Empty notebook

What You Do:

1. Have your child start by brainstorming several different questions for the recipient on a sheet of scratch paper. They can be absolutely anything, as long as they use the word “you”, and aren't yes-or-no questions. They should be open-ended and personal. For example:
   • “Describe the best gift anyone has ever given you.”
   • “What is your earliest memory of childhood?”
   • “Where do you think you will be in fifty years? What will you be doing? Who will you be with?”
   • “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Who would you take with you?”
2. Have your child type her best questions out in a word-processing program and print them, or write them by hand in her best penmanship, on a sheet of sturdy paper. Make sure she arranges them so that they are in a smaller typeface, so that she can turn them into several small slips of paper – about the size of a fortune-cookie fortune.
3. Cut out each question so that each one is on its own slip of paper.
4. Before she fills the jar, have her spray a thin layer of spray adhesive inside the jar. Before it dries, toss a sprinkling of ultrafine glitter in the jar and screw the lid back on. Shake it up to distribute the glitter. Make sure to remove the top after so the fumes don't build up!
5. Once the glue is dry, have her dump out any excess glitter and carefully put slips of paper in the jar. Make sure there are enough prompts to fill the jar all the the way.
6. Give your child a pen and have her write “(Recipient's Name) in a Jar” on a self-stick label, like a nametag or blank return-address label, then stick it to the front of the jar.
7. Have her stick the label on the front of the jar.
8. For the final touch, have her tie a decorative ribbon around the jar from top to bottom, so that the bow covers the lid.
9. Present the jar with a decorative, empty notebook like this one for the recipient to record his answers in.