{mason jar lamps}

I teased you, months ago, with the promise of more from the vintage boxes that Justin's grandma gave me last December. You saw the linen tea towels, and the quilt scraps which became a giant patchwork basket. Now, after a bit of rummaging through a cupboard, I've got another little something to show you.

Three beautiful old mason jars that have been wired up, through the lids, to work as lamps.

Even more exciting, perhaps, than the jars themselves are the scraps and notions that were screwed inside. More quilt scraps, sections of lace and trim, old buttons, a wooden doo-dah -- all things, I imagine, that were cut off or left over from somebody's sewing, back when nothing was too small to save.



Only one of the three actually lights up a bulb when plugged in, but I'm hopeful that a combination of Justin, Lowe's and a few hours with a pair of pliers might fix the others. Meanwhile, I'll be getting to work on a lampshade worthy of these special jars -- watch this space!

Adventures with a Can of Chalkboard Paint, Part III

For some reason, I find that things taste better when eaten out of a glass jar.

And with just a little chalkboard paint, and a scrap of pretty paper, it's quite easy to disguise the fact that these are, in fact, old pasta-sauce containers.

For instructions on painting the labels onto the jars, try this tutorial. I would advise starting with recycled jars like these, rather than buying new jars specially for it, so that if something goes wrong it doesn't matter too much.

And for instructions on covering the lids, have a look here.

And don't limit yourself to food! I also plan to have jars for buttons, pompoms, and for all the bits and bobs to make my Christmas wall tree. And Justin has requested a jar to store nails and screws, and one for all the spare change he piles up around the house.

As always, if you have a go yourself, please post a link, as we'd all love to see!