Once reserved for only the wealthiest families in China, wealth jars or vases are now common among feng shui practitioners. These jars are filled with items believed to increase wealth and then placed inside the home to increase an individual or a family's prosperity. Though the best way to build wealth is through sound money management practices, a little extra luck never hurts. So gather your ingredients and enjoy making a feng shui wealth jar. It might just bring some extra cash your way.

To make a feng shui wealth jar, you first need a suitable vase. The vase must have a lid and the neck of the vase should be narrower than the body. The principle is to funnel money into your life and keep it in place.

The first ingredient in your wealth jar should be soil, which creates a solid foundation. Some feng shui practitioners recommend using soil from your own home to personalize the jar and connect it to your family. Others use soil obtained from a wealthy person to increase the luck of the jar.

For the next layer of your wealth jar, place dried beans or rice on top of the soil. The food is used to symbolize having enough wealth that you and your family never go hungry but always have food on the table.

The prosperity symbol layer is where you can customize and personalize your wealth jar by adding anything and everything that represents wealth to you. You can add coins, paper money, gold jewelry, family photos or anything that makes you feel rich. Many practitioners also include semi-precious stones or pictures of expensive cars and homes. Small Buddha statues and other religious symbols are also placed in wealth jars. Whatever combination of symbols you choose, keep adding them to the jar until it is full.

When you are satisfied with the contents of your wealth jar, put the lid on it. Cover the lid with five pieces of colored cloth to signify the five elements. Place the cloths over the vase in the following order:

• Blue
• Green
• Red
• Yellow
  
• White

The white cloth should be slightly larger than the others and cover all of the cloths completely. Once the cloths have been placed, tie five strings around the neck of the vase to keep the cloths in place. Each piece of string should match one of the colors used to cover the vase.

Place the jar in a discreet place in the southeast corner of your home. The jar should never be left in plain view and should not have anything placed on top of it, as this is said to impede the energy flow. If the vase you use has a design or picture on it, make sure the picture faces in toward the home rather than away from it.