Alabaster Jars

We did the story of Mary washing Jesus' feet and talked about her alabaster jar in my Sunday School Class. How precious this gift was to our Saviour before his death. She wanted to give Him the very best she had. What a lesson for all of us. After the lesson, the children made their own jars for a craft. It was a fun and simple lesson. I highly recommend it. The children now have a jar of their own to remind them of the story and to help them make that same commitment in their own lives. Here is the directions to make the craft for a large group.

Alabaster Jars
These Alabaster Jars were the perfect craft to finish the story of Mary washing Jesus’ feet with her hair. The craft is really simple and fun for the children to do. It just takes a while for the projects to dry (about a day)…so we split the project into two weeks.
Supply list:
· Small jars with lids (ex…baby food jars, jelly jars, sand art bottles, spice jars)
· Tissue paper (the pictures I found of alabaster on line were green, pink and
caramel colors)
· Elmer's glue (to be watered down-2/3 glue to 1/3 water)
· Small cups of glue mix at each table for the children to share
· Paint brushes (we probably have at church)
· A large container of bath gel/liquid soap to divide up (Optional...depends on the type of bottles/jars we get. I just though it would be neat. Could just use oil or water if we seal the bottles shut. We just put a dime size of scented hand soap in each jar for smell.
· Fabric for each jar lid, cut in a circle just a bit larger than the lids
· Rubber band for each jar
· A pre-printed scripture verse

1. Lay out a piece of newspaper for each child and write their name on the newspaper. This will be their work area and will serve as a tray to hold their project while it dries. Give each child a jar with a lid, a paintbrush and a cup of glue mixture.
2. Tear a strip of tissue paper for each child. We let the children pick the color they wanted to use. Mostly the girls picked pink and the boys picked yellow. Because Alabaster is like marble, I also allowed them to pick white to blend with their color of choice.
3. Have the children tear their tissue in small shapes. The idea is for them to be small so they don’t wrap large pieces of tissue around their jars. Each piece will need to lay flat on the jar so that the tissue will get soaked with the glue.
4. Have the children paint the glass jars with the glue mixture. (It is best that they only paint the sides of the jar. Our class had the jar upside down on its lid and painted the whole jar. The only problem with that was that you can’t flip the jar over until it is dry.)
5. Then have the children start laying the tissue pieces onto the glue painted glass. Once the tissue is on then they are to paint over the tissue with glue a second time. It is important to make sure the tissue is all glued down. Their projects will need to dry. So plan on finishing up the next time you are together. (Warning: Tissue paper will bleed color when wet.)
6. After the projects are dry, then you can put the children’s names on the bottom of the jars with tape. To finish off the jars, I cut a circle piece of fabric for each jar that is a bit larger than the jars. Next we poured a dime size drop of scented hand soap into the jars. Then the children secured the fabric to the lid with a rubber band. Finally, I gave them a scripture verse to attach to the rubber band to complete.

This is a real alabaster jar:)

Variation: If you wanted, you could keep the jars empty and have the children decide what they should put into the jar, maybe something very valuable to them that they want to give our Savior. They can write a letter to Him and put that in the jar. Maybe their most valuable thing to them is their time. They could commit to the amount of time they will spend in the Word each day or in prayer.

Variation 2: Have the children make vases and decorate them. They can give the vases as a gift for mother's day or just to make a pretty vase for flowers. Use all kinds of colors and lace to decorate it with.