More Packaging

I have decided: My life is an unending string of distractions. That really does explain a lot. Like why, if I have two cakes to bake, and toppers to make, and bags to fill with buckeyes, and another batch of buckeyes to make, and workshop projects to finish planning, and workshop kits to cut and bag, and ... and ... and..., then why in tarnation am I making mustard? Yes, I made mustard tonight.

This recent adventure began when a co-worker brought in some homemade mustard and some pretzels last week, thinking no one would eat it. Little did she know we actually lost a few pounds each with all the back and forth we did to the table holding the yummy concoction. And back, and back, and we got it out of the fridge the next day and commenced to eat even more of it, until all the pretzels were gone. Then I took it home.

Then we begged for, and received, The Recipe. This stuff was so stinkin' good that I had to try and make it. This week. My co-worker had actually planned to make the mustard, so she had ordered all her supplies online. Me? No, no, no, no. I am scrambling, big time, to find all this stuff. Do you know it is after canning season, so all those cute jars are no longer in stock, except maybe at WalMart, which is far from my home? And did you know that mustard seeds, both yellow and brown, in large quantities, are difficult to find? The little Aisan/Indian markets carry the brown seeds, but they were out of the yellow ones. I did find some at the megamart, but not enough, so I adapted the recipe and used more brown seeds than yellow - exacly the opposite of what the recipe called for. I mentioned this to my co-worker, and she said, "Oh, that stuff will be HOT!" And boy, oh boy, was she right! I think this stuff will peel paint. But it was terribly easy to make, once I had all the ingredients, that is.

So now that I have the mustardy goodness aging on the counter, I needed to work on my favorite thing to do: packaging. Not. This is the prototype I came up with tonight:

The Front. I printed the words on my computer, then cut out and embossed the label with one of my Nesties. The paper is a pretty piece from the SU Haiku package of DS papers. I just wrapped it around and taped it to the jar, then ran a piece of Mustard (how punny) ribbon through the label tag and taped it to the back at the paper's seam.

The Back. Not too exciting, but I thought people should know the ingredients, and I also needed to hide that seam. I thought about layering the circle, but decided it was an ingredients label and did not need to stand out.

The Top. Could this be any more boring unadorned plain simple? I wanted to tie a ribbon around the lid, but with that Mustard ribbon already there, no matter what I tried, it was too much. I wanted to layer some circles on the lid, but after staring at it for a while, I decided this coordinating piece of paper from the same Haiku pack was the best choice. I mean, after all, the Mustard will be the star of this show. I just wanted it to look like I'd tried, and I think I have achieved that.

Tomorrow, I need to sterilize all the jars I bought tonight so I can bottle the stuff, then make all the labels and decorate them. I am only going to make 6 or 7 for my Pot Luck dinner Saturday night. We no longer exchange gifts, but we are all crafty, so we make things. Like buckeyes, and mustard. Oh, and I am bringing dessert, so some time I'll need to make that, too. Just another distraction.