Painted Oui jars with Hogwarts stenciled and glowing orange
|

Harry Potter Glowing Oui Jars: Make it Now

ByGale
Close up of votives made from Oui jars painted black with orange glowing letters saying Hogwarts

In my house at this time of year, there can never be too much of Hogwarts. Transfiguring these into Harry Potter Oui jars was the obvious choice. Halloween is coming, so it’s time to get creating! This is an easy craft you can do with your littles to share your love of the the magical world. Crafts and making homemade goodies are a great way to make this holiday a fun family time, regardless of what’s happening in the world and how you feel about Trick-or-Treating.

Entryway with Harry Potter Halloween decor Undesirable No 1 poster, Hedwig, books, and painted Oui jars spelling Hogwarts

Why We Love Harry

We raised Gen HP kids, so our Potter fandom goes back to when we had to make all of our own Harry Potter birthday decorations and costumes. J.K Rowling didn’t want merchandise that wouldn’t exist in the magical world. My friend sent the first 2 books to me, and I couldn’t put them down! Then I read them to my family, including my husband who didn’t want me reading without him. In the car we listened to the books on cassettes, and then CDs, and now Audible. Harry Potter has an additional special meaning to us though, because it’s been important in our oldest son’s pain journey. He visualized himself as Harry fighting a dragon or Voldemort to cope with pain. The books were an escape that he shared with his brother and sister no matter what. Harry will always be a part of our home and memories that bind us as a family.

Family at Gringotts at Universal Orlando Wizarding World of Harry Potter

So Many Jars

Besides being Potter fans, we also eat a lot of Oui yogurt. Like everyone else, I hate to toss these cute jars in the recycling. That’s like a serious trespass against upcycling, right? Marketing really nailed it with this packaging. I’d buy it even if it didn’t come with the Free craft supply, but . . . the pretty package might have influenced the initial purchase. Did I mention it includes a FREE craft supply, though? I’ve hoarded collected these jars for so long that I gave away over 50 to a single mom for a budget wedding reception.  She was thrilled to get free votive holders, and that has to be the best use of these I will ever come up with, even though I’m pretty happy with my Harry Potter Oui jar votives.

Harry Potter wanted poster, books with glasses, sparkly pumpkin, Gryffindor scarf, Gothic candelabra on velvet fabric with stars, and painted Oui jars that spell Hogwarts

Harry Halloween

Our Halloween theme is Harry Potter, so it didn’t take long for me to see that combining Oui and Harry Potter was my obvious choice. I thought about all the places these jars could fit in the magical world and saw that with a  *swish* and *flick* of paint they were little cauldrons. I can always use more Harry Potter decor at PotterHouse, because less is not more. More is more. I think about Halloween like other people think about Christmas. Now that mine are grown, it gives me the chance to enjoy other people’s kids. I love that there are kids who know my house and are already watching to see decorations go up.

The Idea

Everything came together in a beautiful craftcident. I had my cauldron plan, but I was making a sign and had throw-away letters spelling Hogwarts. It hurt to toss that perfectly good vinyl away, especially since surely I needed that word. . . somewhere. I was trying to think of how to use it and saw the jars waiting to be painted. I can’t even pretend that I knew this was what I was making all along, but I’m really happy with the way it turned out. These Harry Potter Oui jars have a lot more decorative impact than I was expecting.

Painted Oui jars spelling Hogwarts on entry table with Harry Potter Halloween decor, hedwig on books, glasses on a book stack, Gryffindor scarf, sparkly pumpkin, and wanted poster

The Cost

This project cost me Zero. Not a knut! I used Dollar Tree battery-operated votives and supplies I already had. You could argue that I bought the yogurt, but we don’t buy it for the jars. Those are a bonus. The vinyl letters were negatives or throw-aways from another project that I salvaged for this, so I got 2 projects from 1 cut, getting the most from my vinyl. I used regular craft paint, not glass paint which costs more and is not needed for this.

Delta Ceramcoat Satin Varnish, black acrylic craft paint, and two Oui jars painted black and stacked

Supplies

  • 8 Oui jars
  • black craft paint
  • orange craft paint
  • Delta Ceramcoat varnish or Mod Podge
  • sponge (for painting)
  • paintbrush
  • vinyl letters
  • battery operated candles

Ceramcoat vs Mod Podge

I tried both Delta Ceramcoat varnish and name brand Mod Podge when I painted Oui jars like black kettles for my Dollar Tree Halloween Trees. The Ceramcoat was the clear winner, but if you aren’t going to use it for other projects, use Mod Podge. The best deal on Ceramcoat or Mod Podge is Michael’s with a 40% off coupon. I’d make Mod Podge rather than buying it. I have the name brand and have made this recipe. There are other recipes online that are too thin.

DIY Mod Podge

  • 1 Cup glue
  • 1/3 Cup water

Accio, Font!

You can buy Harry Potter fonts at Etsy and Silhouette (Lightning), but there are good, free sources. I’ve had an easier time with the free ones installing, too. I used Harry P from dafont. It’s also available here at fontspace. There are also Harry Potter fonts here at 1001fonts.

Oui vanilla yogurt

Prepping the Jars

Yoplait definitely invested in labels that were resilient to humidity, which means that soaking doesn’t do much. I’ve tried a variety of methods, and the best way I’ve found is hot water. If you’re a canner, warm the jars like you do canning lids. You can run them under a hot faucet, but you have to heat both labels, so it’s easy to scald yourself and very wasteful of water.

If you don’t can, heat a pan of water to just below simmering, and put the room-temperature jars in. Let them heat at least a couple of minutes. The Remove them with tongs. I carefully peeled back a corner, and the labels came right off. Be VERY careful, because you don’t want to burn yourself. I held the jar with tongs while I peeled, but you could use a hot pad. With those precautions I thought it was easier to avoid burns than when I held the jars under hot running water. TIP: It’s OK to have a little adhesive still on the jar, because it will be covered and only add to the texture. You’ll cover it with black paint. Just make sure the vinyl letter goes over glass that is completely free of adhesive.

two Oui jars painted black, one has an orange H for Hogwarts

Painting the Jars

Stick the letters on the clean and dry jars, and use a sponge to apply the black acrylic paint, because that gives it texture like a cauldron. You don’t need to cover them perfectly or use glass paint. The cheapest acrylic paint is fine. I used a brush to get under the rim and didn’t paint the entire bottom. I painted right up to the raised circle so there was enough coverage, but the jars weren’t sitting on wet paint. After the jars are painted black, paint the inside orange where the letters are. This isn’t precise, and I brushed this. Just paint a big orange rectangle so all the letter area is covered. When the black paint is fully dry, peel off the vinyl letters, and finish with a clear coat of Ceramcoat or Mod Podge. Drying takes more time than painting.

looking inside Oui jar painted black at orange painted over area with letter
Paint an orange rectangle over the letter to create the glow.
  • Wash and prep the jars. Heat removes the labels easiest. It’s OK to have some adhesive residue.
  • Cut the vinyl, or purchase pre-cut letters
  • Apply the vinyl letters to the jars.
  • Sponge black paint on for textured look.Use paint brush to get under rim. Paint up to raised circle on bottom, leaving the bottom clear. Perfect coverage not necessary.
  • Brush orange inside where the letter is. No need to be exact.
  • When paint is completely dry, remove vinyl.
  • Finish with clear coat. Ceramcoat varnish or Mod Podge
  • When dry, add battery operated candles.
Harry Potter Halloween decor with painted Oui jars that look like cauldrons sitting in front of a book stack and Gryffindor scarf.

Without a Vinyl Cutter

To make these without a vinyl cutter, there are 2 options. The first and easiest is to buy pre-cut letters from Dollar Tree or a craft store. You might be able to snip them to make a more interesting shape. The second is a little more work, but I’ve tried it. You may need to paint close to the outside edge of the letter without going all the way up to it or dot paint on with a brush in the tight areas.

  • Print “Hogwarts” on a piece of paper
  • Cut the letters apart.
  • Tape them inside each jar
  • Trace each letter from the outside of the jar. (If you use a dry erase, that will wipe off when the paint is dry.) Paint pens also work well for tracing.
  • Paint around the traced letter. (Leave a tiny gap between the black paint and the outline of the letter.) Embrace the imperfection.
Oui jars painted black with Hogwarts painted in orange glowing at night

If you make these Harry Potter Oui jars, I’d love to hear about it and if you made changes! These have become a favorite holiday decoration that my family looks forward to seeing displayed. Dollar Tree battery operated tea candles put off a nice glow, but these can also take real candles or fairy lights.

Similar Posts