Organizing with Mason Jars

Look what I found on Pinterest; a neat organization item made from mason jars...

Cool right? It looked simple enough, so I thought "What the hey?!"

And decided to try it myself. Any good crafty house has got a bit of glitter paint, mason jars and bits for knobs, right?

This one does!

I've already started my canning this year (made sweet pickles yesterday and have relish in the making as we speak), but wide-mouth jars aren't used very often, making them scarce. Two were all I needed for this craft though and polished tiger's eye stones were my accompaniment for knobs.

One for q-tips and bandaids in the other. What do you think? Pass or Fail?

     Take that Pinterest!

For the Birds

"Be still my feeding heart" ~ Robert Reddon

I can't help it. I'm a crafty Mama. I've got my ECE diploma and everything. Add to that two kids under 8 years of age, a constant exposure to the internet (Pinterest is my inspiration mecca), and a love of all things aesthetic, and you get a new craft project every week.

It was a long weekend at our house this past weekend, so I decided that our crab apple needed decorating again. I mean it's been less than a week since I took down the exterior Christmas decorations! High time to redecorate in my books. And this is a project that I have loved since I found it on a crunchy mama blog a few years ago. This year's version was for the birds though.

What you'll need:

• A pan to freeze water in ( I used a couple of cake pans)
• A variety of items to put in the pan (only limited by your imagination)
• String
• Water

Ok, easy peasy here. Make sure you pick a receptacle that you will be able to get your frozen decor out of. I like cake pans because the are a good size to see from the house and road. Cut a length of string to drape into your pan. This is how you are going to hang your creation outside (mine hang in our crab apple, but you could string yours on a fence, gate or laundry line, wherever works for you). Now fill your pan with decorations; think tissue paper, dried flowers, feathers, greenery, berries or whatever strikes your fancy. Make it into a bird feeder with nuts and seeds, or a people pleaser with colourful items that bring you joy mid-January on a cold winter's day.

Once you have added your hand-picked items, carefully place your pan in the freezer. After it is frozen, remove from pan and hang for all to see and enjoy. Now you have a bright spot in your world and the cost is FREE!

How do you chase away the winter doldrums at your house?

In preparation for celebration

   Road tripping weekend AGAIN this week! We are off to my sister's house today to celebrate Mother's day with my more-or-less brother-in-law's family. Twill be a gala affair, to be sure, especially as we bring treats for Grandma Gracie. We will also be bringing treats for the other mommies that we will see over the weekend (Grandma, Grammy and Auntie). The girls and I were busy being crafty all day Friday, so that we could have loverly gifts to present to all the bestest Mommies in our world! I crafted a new poem (seem to be on a bit of a role) and the girls had paint and stickers flying everywhere.

    I will share one stanza from the poem, but you don't get the whole thing this time I am afraid;

                                                     What images doth render here?

                                                     Bandaids and kisses to take away fear.

                                                     Laughter aplenty to brighten love’s heart.

                                                     Veggies and vitamins to make us smart.

                                                     The many rules for security

                                                     To keep us safe, both you and me.

                                                     ~Mothers.

    I even got my hand into the crafty side of creative as well. I finally got my soap made (with the essence of lily of the valley from the garden), so shall take some along with the other gifts. With the help of the girls, we poured through photos of family to print out. We slathered glue on them and now they decorate a special present for Grandma. As if that was not enough, we even made new signs for the girl's doors sporting their names and whatever else would stick to them. Surprisingly the house did not get too absolutely covered in mac tack, paint, glue, stickers and sequins. Better luck next time, I guess. But for now we sail off to cousins to play with, aunts to giggle with and Grandmas to snuggle with. May all the Mothers in your world feel the love owed them. I am going to deliver mine in person. Happy Saturday.

Friday Fun

   I have read a few blogs that have much fun with days of the week. There are Project Mondays and Free-for-all Fridays over at Notions and Threads. Tree Huggin Tuesdays and Feature Fridays grace the pages of Hip Mountain Mama. My good friend Is That a Promise of a Threat? even discovered Friday Follow at One 2 Try. They are all so inspiring, but my Fridays never look like that. Typically on Friday we are lucky if we are dressed by lunch time.

This is what my living room looked like this morning.

This was it last Friday around 10:30 am.

   Today, if I can tear myself away from the computer, we are inspired and out the door early. I leave behind the ghost fort that the girls created this morning and take to the road. We are off to Grandma's house to wreak havoc on her world. She started it with the temptation of crab legs. unnnnhhhhh, yum! So I applaud all of you who are crafty and creative, but Friday I am in love with Chaos.  And the road calls, so carry on...

Chestnuts roasting over open (oven)

I sit at my kitchen table and watch as my girlies stud clementines.

I decorated a clementine on the weekend with cloves and T was enchanted. She managed to find another clementine hiding in the fridge and demanded that we stuff it full of cloves too. With no more to be found she insisted that we should buy more oranges, so today I made a point of buying some for her. I happen to like them for breakfast, but their thrill at another craft project warms my soul.

They are my inspiration to get in touch with the simple life of days gone by. I even picked up some chestnuts and have some roasting in the oven as I write. This is a task I have never undertaken, but am inspired by Christmas carols on the radio and some crafty blogs I peruse. I may even try my hand at chocolate coated orange rinds for a sweet dessert treat for dinner tomorrow night at a friend's house. Thanks Gardenmama! Wishing you a warm and festive time of year.