Clearly my focus the last few weeks has been on outdoor entertaining because, at least in our neck of the woods, the temperature is rising which sets the scene for a lovely outdoor gathering. It's no secret I love entertaining, but collecting accessories
for entertaining has always been high on my list. A little journey on the world wide web the other night with a glass of wine and active mouse found me on sites like www.frontgate.com, www.landsend.com and www.plowhearth.com, where the new star on the block seems to be the Sunjar (top photo), a solar powered light positioned in a mason jar ranging from $19.99 (Plow & Hearth) to $39+ (Frontgate and Amazon). While I love the look and the idea of using solar power, I got to thinking about the boxes upon boxes of mason jars Joe and I have accumulated over the years (the New York Times actually did a great piece last weekend on the history of the Mason Jar..who knew they were so collectible, especially those with tinted glass, like blue and green??). While I try to repurpose them as much as possible (we've used mason jars as beer mugs, clear votives hanging from trees with chicken wire, storage for homemade salad dressing) a lightbulb went off and I thought of one more interesting way to use these cool mason jars. I picked up a small quart of paint at Michaels (peheo vitrea 160) and with a few simple steps raised the bar on what to do with mason jars!
QUICK TIP: To create these cool outdoor votives (bottom photo), I poured the paint to cover 1/4 of the inside of the mason jar. Working over my open can of paint, I flipped the mason jar, allowing the paint to coat the entire inside, while all of the excess paint slipped back into the can. I then placed the jars upside down on a wet paper towel (so the towel doesn't stick to the paint) and let dry for two hours. I will place these on tables, but for an cool light show wrap fishing wire, picture wire or chicken wire around the lip and hang from a tree limb at various heights (if using real candles make sure jars are far enough away from anything flammable). As always, if you think you don't have enough time to get creative log onto www.amazon.com or www.plowhearth.com for the best deals on lit mason jars!
