Making a TBR Jar
Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates. I hope you had a great holiday.
Today I have a bit different post: I’m showing you how I made my TBR jar. I’ve been wanting to make one of these for a while. I started making it a few months ago, but then got busy. So I took advantage of some free time and was able to finish it!
I didn’t have an actual jar and I didn’t want to go buy one, so I ended up using an empty ice cream container. Talenti is one of my favorite ice cream brands, especially because they have the 5 layer kind. I wanted a glass jar, but I couldn’t find one that we had around the house that fit the requirements I wanted: a screw on lid so I could easily cap the jar, and one that my hand could fit into. So I went with a plastic one.
Along with the jar, I got construction paper in all the colors of the rainbow. I decided to make each color a different genre. This the color coding that I used:
❤️ – romance
🧡 – nonfiction
💛 – science fiction
💚 – historical fiction
💙 – fantasy
💜 – mystery
💖* – contemporary
*on some devices, this is shown as red. it’s supposed to be pink.
To make the little slips of paper, I wrote down all the book titles on the piece of paper, cut them into strips, and then into individual pieces. The ones with stars on them indicate that they’re part of a series. Some genres took less time than others; fantasy and contemporary took the longest. No surprise there.
Afterwards, I folded them in half and then in half again so I won’t be able to see the writing when I pick one from the jar. The jar is filled to the top with paper. I have a lot of books to get through.
I haven’t found a way yet to make sure I add books to the jar that I add to my online TBR list. Maybe I’ll do some kind of weekly update to the jar. If you have a TBR jar, what’s your method for adding to it?
Ta-da, here it is! My fabulous TBR jar in all its glory. I love all the bright colors, even if there are dominating amount of blue and pink and hardly any orange and yellow. We’ll work on trying to balance it out. My plan on how to use this is that when I don’t know what to read, I’ll pick a title from the jar. If I want a specific genre, I’ll pick according the color; if I don’t care, I’ll pick blindly. I plan to read the first title I grab, but I may sometimes pick again if I’m not in the mood for some reason, like it’s a series and I want a standalone.
Do you have a TBR jar? How did you make yours?
17 Comments
LitforQueers
This is such a cool idea, I love it!
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
Thank you!
Joanna @ TheGeekishBrunette
I love the colored paper! It makes it pop.
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
Yes, I agree!
Amaya
I love this! I’m definitely going to give it a try
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
Thank you! Yes, it’s a lot of fun!
Hayley @onthisiponder
Ooh that’s cool!
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
Thank you!
Hayley @onthisiponder
Are the books in the jar all books you own or are some you wish to buy/borrow?
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
They’re all books I want to read that I don’t own.
Hayley @onthisiponder
Ah I see 🙂
saima @ storieswithsaima
This is so cute and such a good idea!
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
Thank you! Hopefully I’ll put it to good use.
Suhani
ahhh i LOVE this idea so so much, i definitely need to make one soon since my tbr is huge 😂
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
I’m hoping I can try to reduce my TBR with this! Probably won’t happen, but we’ll see!
Marie
Ahh I love this idea so much, and this little jar is SO cute! 😍 I’ve been struggling with wanting to read, but not knowing what to read, lately, so I think that post came at the perfect time for me. thank you!!
Lotus @ Pages of Starlight
Thank you! I always struggle when deciding what to read next, so I’m hoping this will help. I hope you find some good reads!