Easy Pot of Gold Candy Jars

No matter your heritage, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, and these little Pot of Gold Candy Jars are sure to get everyone’s Irish eyes smiling! This project is easy to pull together and a great way to repurpose glass jars you might already have on hand. They make adorable party favors for a St. Patty’s Day bash or are perfect Leprechaun “gifts” for kiddos, school buddies, teachers, neighbors, or co-workers. Let me show you how to make them!

NOTE: This is a project I first created in 2015 for a site called My Daily Bubble. The site has since shut down, and I’ve been given permission to update and re-post these projects, in their entirety, here on The Homes I Have Made.

Supplies Needed

To make these Pot of Gold Candy Jars, you will need:

• Small Jars – I used these small candy favor jars, but you can also use baby food jars, small condiment or sauce jars, or other favor jars you find on Amazon or at the craft store.
• Contact Paper/Vinyl or Shamrock-Shaped Stickers
• Spray Primer
• Black Paint (spray paint is ideal but you can use anything you have on hand)
• Green Polka Dot Ribbon, about 12” per jar
• Mini Buckles (sometimes called “ribbon slides,” found in the scrapbook section of the craft store)
• Gold-Wrapped Candies (e.g., Rolos, Almond Hershey Kisses, yellow M&Ms, etc).
• Tools: Scissors, e-cutter, die-cutting machine, or shamrock punch (only if not using stickers) | paint brush (only if not using spray paint)

Start by removing and discarding the jar lids; you won’t need them for this project. Clean both the insides and outsides of the jars if they were previously used or have sticker labels on them.

Using an e-cutter or punch, cut out shamrocks from contact paper or vinyl. You can also buy shamrock-shaped stickers to use here as well. Place a shamrock sticker onto the front side of the glass jars and press firmly. These stickers are what will create the peek-a-boo window!

With the top opening facing down, spray all sides of the glass jars with spray primer and let dry. Primer will allow the black paint to better adhere to the glass jars in a nice even coat.

Next, paint the glass jars with several coats of black paint. Spray paint is ideal here; I opted to use some leftover chalkboard paint I had on hand.

With the paint still wet, use a sharp/pointed edge like a weeding tool, seam ripper, or toothpick to carefully remove the shamrock stickers from the jars. Set the jars aside to dry.

Next, cut a 12” length of green ribbon for each jar.

If your ribbon is wider than the ribbon slide, iron it in half length-wise. Then, bring the two ends of the ribbon together and trim them on diagonal with a sharp scissors.

Thread both ends of the ribbon through the mini metal buckle as shown below, keeping a large loop open at the end (don’t pull the excess through the buckle yet).

Fit the large ribbon loop around the mouth of the (dry) glass jar, and then pull the ribbon snug through the buckle. Tighten the buckle and open the ribbon up to create a fuller look.

Repeat with the other jars, and then fill them with yellow or gold candies. Make them extra full, just as they’d be if you found them at the end of a rainbow!

These Pot of Gold Candy Jars would be great to leave on co-workers’ desks or placed at everyone’s plate for St. Patrick’s Day dinner! No matter who you give them to, these little treats are a fun project that can easily be pulled together in just an afternoon. They are sure to make everyone feel lucky on the luckiest day of the year! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!