TUTORIAL: How to Make a TBR Jar

Hello everyone!

If you are like me and have a bit of a book buying problem, you may have quite the tedious to be read, or TBR pile. Or shelf. Or box.

Regardless, tackling that TBR pile can be a little tricky at times. You buy a new book and want to read that one right away, instead of choosing from your ever growing TBR stack. The solution? A TBR jar.

The basic idea behind the TBR jar is that you take a jar, or some other container and write down on a piece of paper all the books that you have yet to read. Then, you shake up the jar and pick out a piece of paper and commit to reading the book on the paper.

I decided it was high time that I made my own TBR jar, so I sat down today and took pictures as I went. Lets get started!

First, gather supplies. You will need coloured paper, a jar (or other container), a pen or marker, scissors or a paper cutter and tape or glue.

You want to use the scissors or paper cutter to cut the paper into fairly uniform pieces. A couple of centimetres wide worked fine for me.

Next, cut those strips into smaller pieces. I cut my original strips into quarters because that was easier to eye ball. You can measure them out if you want, but I didn't feel it necessary.

After you have cut your paper into manageable strips, you can start writing out the titles of books in your TBR pile. I didn't include the author's name on the paper because I felt like I could figure out what book it was. If you organize your books by author or you have a lot of books in your TBR pile, you can add the authors name if you think that would help you find it.

I also included a couple "FREE PICK" and "BUY A NEW BOOK" options, because, hey! I need those options available!

Once you have all your books written down, fold them up and throw them in your jar.

If you want, you can put a little label that says something along the lines of "TBR Jar" on the outside with the tape/glue.

And that's it! You're done! Stand back and admire your beautiful creation.