Hand Stained Mason Jars in Various Colors

Assorted Half Pint Mason Jars stained by Booth555.com

Hey ya'll!

I have been in a kinda craft slump lately. It's just been so dang hot here in Kentucky. 

Even hitting "real feel" heat conditions of 105* out. 

So when I do run out it's mainly to just get where I'm going and such. Not much crafting, cutting, sorting or painting outdoors lately.

I am still staining new and old mason jars in all sorts of colors. 

Have been going on about 8 years or so now. 

And using the baking process to cure them. So thought I'd share a few pics of that for today.

Squatty half pint mason jars stained various colors by Booth555.com

So thought I'd share a few pics of that for today since I haven't shared much anything in a while.

This is the color AQUA that is the main seller. A certain view of the camera gives this belly shape look I love to these half pint, squatty style, mason Ball jars.

Half pint Squatty jar in Aqua by Booth555.com

Here they are upside down, drying, getting ready to be baked in the oven.

Aqua mason jars ready to be placed in the oven

In the oven is where they acquire their deep aqua color. Although in the pic below they don't appear to be much to look at yet.

Here is a close up of an aqua jar that has runs after the firing process.

Half pint Squatty jar in Aqua by Booth555.com

Look closely and you can see the imperfections.

I usually just end up keeping these for myself. So I don't mind the runs every now and then. lol.

The heat during firing  makes the excess stain I use run. So I can always see where I have used too much. It's hard to hold back when applying though. I love the deep colors a thick layer makes.

Before I bore you too much with my favorite jar colors I like to create, let me show you what I call antifreeze green. I just adore this color!

Half pint Squatty jar in Antifreeze Green by Booth555.com

When the light hits them a certain way, they really pop!

Half pint Squatty jar in Antifreeze Green by Booth555.com

And another favorite of mine is the soft, rosey pink.

Half pint Squatty jar in a Soft, rosey pink by Booth555.com

Half pint Squatty jar in a Soft, rosey pink by Booth555.com

Half pint Squatty jar in a Soft, rosey pink by Booth555.com

I have tons of more colors I use but don't want to bore you with each. I've also experimented doing two and three tones on some jars getting a fade effect. I didn't love those so much. But I do enjoy the colors above.

Whether you stick them on a shelf for display, use them as business card holders, battery operated candle holders or just junk jars, they add a little bit of color here or there.

Hope ya'll enjoyed seeing a few of the jars that's been keeping me busy lately.

See ya'll next time!

-Lisa

Assorted Half Pint Mason Jars stained by Booth555.com

MASON JAR SNOWMEN KEY CHAINS

I absolutely love any type of mason jar crafts and snowmen.  

And when a time comes to join mason jars and snowmen together, I give it a try.  

So here's the latest idea I've had.

MASON JAR SNOWMEN KEY CHAINS

I have a ton of these wooden mason jars made up because I make them into key chains. Kinda as my business cards, to give out with purchases of my stained mason jars. 

But this morning I had the idea to make some into snowmen key chains.

You could also do this with the flat, wooden, mason jar gift tags found at Walmart.

Set of 12 for $2.23
Photo from Walmart.com

In this photo, I'd already drilled a hole and screwed my eye hooks down into the top.

The plain eye hooks come in a pack of 20 for .59 cents at our local Ollies.

And now for the first step to painting the snowmen faces.

I used these colors for snowmen:

When it comes to painting snowmen faces, don't over think it.  Just do each eye, nose, mouth all at once and it will come together. 

Now, just take some orange paint and stick on a pointy nose.

Now, take the end of the brush, the pointy tip and dot on some eyes.

Now add some mouths with the same end of the brush.

See, step by step they are beginning to look like snowmen and it isn't as hard as you think.

And little lines for eyebrows.

And now time to add some rosey cheeks and a bit of mixed orange and white to add snow to the nose.

And now it's time to attach the ring holder. I always save old keychains for this.  This time I had a bunch of dolphins that I had saved back from a sale I caught at our Preston Court Days.
I got an entire bag of 50 +/- for $2.00 !!

I used pliers to pry off the ring.

And then just stick it right back on my Mason Jar Snowmen Key Chains.

I think they are really turning out cute.

What about you?

Oh, and if you're wondering how big these are, I forgot to say.

Just the right size for a key chain and I also have a little bit smaller size on hand too.

And to seal them, I hung them up outside, by the hangers with clothespins and gave them a quick spray of clear coat.

And that's it. Now we have Mason Jar Snowmen Key Chains. 

A combination of the two things I love to craft with!

And remember, you can get those flat, wooden mason jar tags from Walmart to do about the same craft!

Set of 12 for $2.23
Photo from Walmart.com

Hope ya' liked this idea.

See ya'll next time,

~Lisa

STENCILED OLD CROW GAME BOARD TABLES plus ANIMALS GONE WILD

Hey ya'll,

been super busy gearing up for Christmas sales in my Craft Booth #555 at my local co-op.

So sorry to be running behind here on posting this last week.

But here's a quickie of a set of end tables that I recently remade.

The tops were rougher before and had to be sanded and repainted before I started.

You can see below that the top sides are still drying.

All I really had to do was get out my stencils and find some that would kinda fit.

I chose the Olde Crow Game Board Co but used a star instead of a crow.

Why? Just because the crow shoulda' been black and on this table it wouldn't have shown up.

I used a mustard yellow and mixed it up with a bit of gray to get the color I wanted.

 It was a very easy makeover.  But don't forget to seal the top with some sort of clear coat or sealer.

I used RUST-O-LEUM 2x ultra cover in MATTE CLEAR.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THE MATTE again though! 

Simply because it's too flat on the black and adds a bit of dusting crap when finished.

Luckily it wiped off for me, but still is visible up really close!

But anyways, I wan't happy with the end result but didn't have time to go back and re-do everything.

So here they are side by side again:

And before I go, take a look at what I saw on a fence post while outside.

  

I think it's a praying mantis. But that's not the cool part. Take a closer look at what he has in his hands....

LUNCH!

But what is super cool is that it is a red wasp!

OMG!

And it only gets better.  After I saw that, I kept my eyes peeled all day looking for him again.

I didn't see him but I did spy a close second. Lookie here~

Another one on the porch rail.

It looked like it was about to be stung, and I think it was once cause it kinda jumped. But it was there catching lunch also.

But it ducked and covered it's face a bit and then went on eating like a boss!

Look at this face!

Wow, I never really stop to look around this much. Creatures are awesome.

Now back to work....

 Here's a sneak at what I'm working on this morning:

More to come tomorrow on these Mason Jar Projects!!!!

See ya'll next time,

~Lisa