Canada Day Mason Tea Light Holder

Every time I look through mason jar projects at this time of the year I see tons of pretty little mason jars painted with stars and stripes in red white and blue.   My friends from south of the border are really busy.

What I don't see is Canada Day mason jars and I kinda wondered why.  So I decided it's about time someone made them.  I'm so glad I did because I absolutely love  it.

First I gathered together a bunch of stuff because I wasn't really sure how I was going to make it.  I mixed a batch of my DIY chalky paint in red.  This little bowl is about a half cup. Once it's mixed I just keep it in a jar and it will last for a couple of weeks.

Then I washed my mason jar and dried it really well.  First I gave it a good coat of the white I already had mixed. 

While the paint was drying I measured a spoon and using pliers I bent it to hang down into the jar.

It will hang inside like this and hold the tea light candle.

I painted the back side of  a small maple leaf to use like a stamp, then painted the top and bottom of the jar red as well.

A little sanding of the raised areas and some jute twine around the top and it's done.   All that's left is to add a candle.

I love how it looks and I can't wait to make some more.  I think these would look great going up a set of stairs to a deck to light the way home after the fireworks,  or lined up on a mantle. 
Where would you put yours?

Mason Jars in the Bathroom?

I'm  working my way through the mason jar projects I have on my  Pinterest board called "mason jar love" found here.  While this is one of my fun goals right now, I still have to keep need in mind.  And what I need right now is a way to keep our bathroom counter paraphernalia a little more organized.  We don't have any drawers in our vanity and little baskets stored beneath the sink get lost.  I always find the one I want at the very back.





















I found what looks like the foot board of a bunk bed on the  curb a few weeks ago and  I rescued it.  I didn't know then what it was for so  I mulled it over for a while and it finally came to me. It was just a little longer than the width of my bathroom mirror.  At first I thought of turning it into a shelf some how but I actually have lots of counter space,  its storage I need.  And by the way.... lots of counter space is not always a good thing. Some times its just more surface to collect stuff that doesn't get put away. grrrr.

This is where the mason jars come in.  I had this idea pinned here on my Pinterest  board so I went right out to the hardware store and bought four hose clamps .... cost $7.97  I measured my foot board and made pilot holes to evenly space my jars.

I primed the board with my DIY chalky paint and gave it a top coat of this really pretty paint called "Lovely in Linen" by Beauti-Tone.  It reminds me of the colour of lambs ear in the garden, that soft silvery gray/green.

When it was nice and dry I  screwed on the hose clamps then added my mason jars and tightened  them in.

 

Using nice long screws I attached the whole thing  to the wall above the sink.  I added a hook at each end for a place to hang a face cloth and hand towel for each of us and now I love how tidy all our mess is.

 

 

The hose clamps cost me $7.97,  I found the board, and everything else I had on hand.  It took about an hour and half of my time, including waiting for the paint to dry, and all the clutter around my sink is now nice and tidy.  I call this a complete success. Yay

 

 

Painted Mason Jars

My first mason jar project was my mason jar soap dispensers found here and at the end of that post I decided I would work my way through the ton of projects that I have saved on pinterest.

The other day it was rainy and cold and I was looking for a small indoor project.
I got out a couple of mason jars, some leftover chalky paint and a few little bits of ribbon. I think I'm the very last person to finally try painting mason jars but I have to tell you I am really surprised at how pretty these really are.  It's also a really great way to use up bits of leftover chalky paint as well because it takes such a tiny bit to cover the jar.

 I decided to put on a dark coat first then a light coat because I wanted the raised parts to stand out a bit when I sanded them. 

While I had the paint out I dug into my stash and found this silver tray from the thrift store so it got a coat of paint too. Some sanding of the edge of the tray and the raised lettering on the jars. Add some ribbon around the top and I'm really pleased.  Aren't they pretty.

I had a bit of the light colour paint left so I used it on these two little dogs.  Also found in my stash they were  bookends but I never used them so I took the bottom pieces off.

 

















They add just the right touch for little displays around the house.

To brighten up a shelf in my china cabinet until I get around to painting it.

And on this vintage tray.  You can see the tray makeover here , it was actually my very first post.

So if you find yourself with a little time on a rainy day start painting a mason jar.  You never know what it will lead to.

Mason Jar Soap Dispensers.

I love mason jars.  I've been wanting to try some of the  ideas for repurposing them that I have saved to Pinterest, and I finally got around to making a soap dispenser.

I simply followed   these easy direction from "Love grows Wild". Her tutorial made it so simple and I didn't need any special tools.  Just some pumps that I cut off the top of some empty soap containters and a small nail and hammer. 

I made two hand soap dispensers, one for my bathroom ....

and one for the kitchen. Than I switched them  because I made a third for my dish soap and I wanted the two pumps   in the kitchen to match.
























This was with the hand soap in the kitchen. Nice, but I wanted another one for my dish soap. 

That's better.  The stand is a plate and a candle holder that I picked up at the thrift store. I simply glued the two together.   This is so much prettier than your dish soap container on the counter.  The little cheese shaker contains baking soda for scrubbing hard to clean messes and keeping my sink clean.  It works just as well as comet without the nasty chemicals.

I can't believe how easy these were to make. I'm so happy I finally decided to try this. 

Now I just need to work my way through all the other mason jar projects out there. 


UPDATE:  I decided that I wanted a little more of a matched set, so I added a small mason jar with holes punched in the lid for my baking soda and gave all the lids and pumps a coat of black paint.  I'm so glad I did.


























It makes so much sense with the black and glass pedestal.  I'm loving the way it looks on my counter.