Vintage At Heart {Mason Jars}

I am so excited to introduce a new series on my blog: Vintage at Heart!

I love the yesteryears. The fabrics, décor, fashion, food, the way people lived. Send me back to the 1930's-1940's and I would be one happy girl (well, as long as I could take my iPhone!).

One thing I am loving is the trend of taking things from the past and re-inventing them in some form or fashion. Every Wednesday, I will highlight those things by category. This week's category is Mason Jars.

I have a love affair with Mason Jars. We drink from them, store loose change in them, fill them with real or fake flowers, store homemade dressings and I could go on and on. The funny thing is, I have never used a mason jar for the reason they were created: canning. I would love to learn this vintage homemaking skill at some point in my life, but for right now I will enjoy the jars for other uses!

1. June Jars
There are many companies out there selling the mason jars with the straws for drinking. I especially love this company for their quality product. Go check them out and place an order! You will not be disappointed!







2. Paint Them!

There are so many tutorials out there on painting mason jars, but these are a few of my favorites (I know there are two striped jars, but I love them so much, I couldn't decide!). Clockwise from top right:

Simple Painted Glass Jars by Just a Girl and Her Blog

 DIY Polka Dot Jars by R&R Workshop

 Gold Striped Jar Caddy by Raising Up Rubies

Please go check out her blog! Definitely my favorite one in the blogosphere.

 

Spring Inspired Striped Jars by The Crafted Sparrow

 

 

 

 

 

3. Canning Jar Ring Pumpkin by Yellow Bliss Road

Okay, so this is technically just a part of the jar. But these are so cute! I cannot wait for fall to come around and make one of these!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Mason Jar Pincushions by The Enchanting Rose

Aren't these the most adorable thing ever? Please, go make one now. I beg you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Anthropologie Inspired Snow Globes by Whipperberry

Wouldn't these make wonderful Christmas gifts for a little niece or nephew? Or maybe a fun craft project with your kiddo's!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this gives you lots of crafting ideas! Join me next week for more ideas to enjoy yesterday's treasures!

 

 

In The Beginning......

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
-Genesis 1:1

 

I love every part of the scripture. In fact, this isn't my favorite verse, but it is close to the top. Why is that, you ask?

 

As an artist, I appreciate other artists. Writers, painters, musicians, photographers just to name a few. What do all these people have in common? They create their masterpieces. They see it, hear it, dream it first in their mind. They then began the process of creation. They pat paint onto a canvas. They set the f/stop on their camera's. They write those first words of a novel. They strum bars of a new song.

 

In the beginning, God created. He was the first artist and as someone that appreciates art, I have never been disappointed in His masterpieces. The lush green mountains that corral the Shenandoah Valley where I call home. The red dirt plains of Oklahoma where I grew up. The tree frogs that lull us into a peaceful state of mind in the evenings. The giggles that escape my children's lips as we share something humorous. The smell of the ground coffee beans that allow us artists to survive.

 

All of these lovely things are a result of God's Handiwork. From the first time He spoke the earth into existence to the everyday miracles I call my children. His vision, His creation.

 

I am so thankful God created me with an artists mind. For awhile I struggled with my identity. I played around with photography, and while that soon became nothing but a hobby, it taught me to look at the world with different eyes. Untended fields suddenly transformed into beautiful worlds as the evening sunlight glowed across them. The morning light played peek-a-boo in the shadows of a dilapidated barn and it quickly took on a Heavenly quality.

 

Although I loved photography, I soon realized that it wasn't the creative outlet that motivated me. I dabbled in crochet, which I still immensely enjoy. But even that would not get the stories out of my head.

 

These elaborate stories would began in my head and I would play them out bit by bit, scene by scene on the movie screen in my head. Several times I would sit down with a pen and try to get the stories out on paper. I would quickly realize that I had no clue what I was doing. In fact, I was probably going crazy. My Internet search history would soon show I was googling things like, "Am I crazy because I have stories playing out in my mind all the time," or "If I constantly have stories going through my head, does it mean I'm depressed?" True story.

 

It never crossed my mind that maybe, just maybe, the Great Creator designed me as a writer. He created my mind to plot stories and to use these stories to glorify Him.

 

One day, just a few months ago, I was telling a co-worker that when I was a child, I wanted to be either a teacher or author. She looked at me and seriously told me that I could still do either one of those things. She encouraged me to go after my dream and I went home that day and thought long and hard about what I wanted in my life.

 

I sat down and started working on story ideas. I read anything I could find on Pinterest related to writing. I realized the mistake I made in my earlier attempts at writing was that it is a learned craft. Very few, if any, people pick up a pen for the first time and write a best seller.

 

I am working on my first novel and I am still learning so many things along the way. I just joined ACFW and I am hoping to attend their upcoming writers conference. I entered a short story into a contest and while I didn't win, I did place in the top fifty and will be published in an anthology. I was just able to purchase a laptop, which has made writing easier. I couldn't do this all by myself, though.

 

All of it has been made possible by the ultimate Artist, God. The first Creator.