Tribute to Mason Jars

If confession is good for the soul, I'll admit it, I use Mason Jars for just about everything. This is my tribute to my beloved jar. To my friends at Burke Community Church, I do use them for more than just coffee, although that is a great start to the day.


Taking a tour of our house, you'll find the following uses:

• base to a lamp (if you look carefully at the one on the left, it has the tag still there saying what kind of jelli was in it)

• candle - see the below picture (thanks Mike & Paula - Autumn Hill Candle creators)
• pen/pencil holder once the candle is used up

• jelly
• daffodil's growing in them (here's the picture, but you'll need to scroll down a bit)
  
• next Christmas, I hope to make Candy Jars for each in our family - I remember my grandparents having their hearth lined with candy jars for each person in our family, one Christmas
• of, course, my coffee (and today's happens to be a recycled sorghum jar, thanks honey!!)
  
• potpourri
• cork holder
  

Here are some other ways I've been known to use the various sized Mason Jars:

• fresh cut flowers
• actual canned food
• sugar bowl
• baking soda (I buy the Costco size, which stays near the washer and dryer and keep a portion in the kitchen)
• small junk bowl for those things that you don't want to throw away because you might remember where it goes some other day
• coffee/tea related gadgets - honey sticks, coffee scoop, loose leaf tea strainer, etc.
• craft supplies - pomp pomps, little plastic eyes, etc

Suppose I really do dream of being in the country if I decorate with Mason Jars, Quilts (and some of those quilts are now lamp shades although not made my me), baskets, wire/wrought iron, wood. My dream house would have a wrap around porch with awesome views of mountains and sunrise/sets. Of course, the vehicle I'd really like is a faded, red pick up truck.

Miscellaneous Musings

It's been a bit since I've blogged about very random things. Life's been busy with school, chores, snow, church, birthdays, Legos, Pinewood Derby, on and on it goes. So, here is my life in pictures and musing over the past few days.

PINE WOOD DERBY DAY
It seemed hard to believe this was our third Pine wood Derby. Thing One still enjoys this event even when his car doesn't win. He's got two more years to figure out how to do that and then go to Districts. His car is below, far right, mostly blue with white where someone would sit.

Thing Two seems to have more fun each year too. He actually has a few scout friends now, as a result of swim team this past summer, and a neighbor friend (whose older brother is a Web 2 in our Pack) came along that Saturday. Nothing like two wound up 6 year olds along with a bunch of other boys of varying ages. Thing Two's car, below, is the one being placed on the track. It is suppose to be a Star Wars fighter with R2D2 (the blue thing behind the brown window). No surprise if you know my son.

WINTER WEATHER MUSING

We finally got snow and more than just a dusting. Here's the view, early in the day, through the front screen door. The boys have been excited by the snow today and it sure has been an interesting one. Have you ever tried to Home School two boys who are totally stoked by the snow? It became more interesting when we noticed about 6 deer running through the woods behind our house. We went to the front window, thinking they might come up the pipe steam, but they stayed in the woods.

I was impressed with the contrast, here, of the daffodils growing in glass mason jars, that I had placed in my potted hydrangea, with the snow accumulating on the deck. To have such Spring flowers growing, albeit indoors, and to have snow falling outdoors. It was interesting to me.

Oh, and I am sure my cat's vet would appreciate the daffodils, hydrangea, and fern (not visible in this photo). All can be toxic to a cat, but Gremlin seems to leave them alone. She's more interested in playing with the legos and math manipulatives the boys leave laying around.

RECENT ATTEMPTS AT DECLUTTERING & REORGANIZING

I suppose we're becoming a book family. This small corner of the house is not for Kevin and me, but the boys collection. I worked today on combining the two different stashes of books, made room in a nook for both book cases, going through the books, and general reorganizing of their stuff. Didn't come close to finishing today (definitely a two day project), but got the big thing done - books.

The other reorganizing I did, was actually from yesterday. I spent time rearranging furniture so that all the boys games could be in one spot. It actually turned out better than I had hoped. Yeah!! They even helped with putting the toys back on the shelves and were happy to have a spot to display their new Star Wars Lego ships.

So, it has taken me about an hour and half to do all the uploading of photo's and dialoging for this post. Still haven't figured out an easy way for doing the photos. My way just seems backwards, but it works. Time to save one last time and post.