10 Decorative Ways to Use Mason Jars Around The House
Guest post by Amanda B
In this age of financial hardship, when the housing, utility and health or auto insurance bills quickly add up, it is important to find thrifty ways to decorate your home. Inexpensive and available in a multitude of sizes, shapes and colors, mason jars make versatile tools for the thrift-conscious decorator. With a few other economical supplies and these creative ideas, you can easily add decorative mason jars to every space in your home inside and out.
1. Recycled Candles
A fragrant and eco-conscious project, recycled candles are a perfect way to decorate with mason jars. Start by gathering together all the stubs and used candles you have around the house, such as old birthday candles and tower candles that have melted down in the middle. Using a double boiler, melt down the wax and remove the wicks. Then place a new wick in the jar and pour in your wax mixture. For a layered multi-color candle, melt, pour and solidify your wax individually.
2. Butterfly Specimen Wall Decoration
Add a scientific touch to a child’s room or playroom using mason jars and silk butterflies. Both attractive and educational, this wall accent is great for a little girl or a budding entomologist. Mount the jars onto a wooden wall plaque and fill with twigs, flowers and butterflies. Then add white butterfly netting to the top and label the jar with the butterfly’s common and scientific names. For a boy’s room, simply swap some butterflies with beetles, spiders, grasshoppers and other creepy-crawlies.
3. Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns
Greet trick-or-treaters or costumed party guests by decorating your porch or refreshment table with glowing mason jar jack-o-lanterns. Begin by cutting three triangles and a mouth out of masking tape for the face and positioning them on the jar. Coat the outside of the jar with orange glass paint and once dry carefully peel away the masking tape. You can also use the masking tape to make the shapes of cats, bats and ghosts.
4. Decorative Canning
With so many decorative alternatives, it is easy to overlook one of the most common uses of mason jars, canning! Look to the rainbow of nature and fill your jars with colorful fruits and vegetables. Dress up your jars with labels, fabric and ribbon and display them in your kitchen. You can also try herb-infused oils and jam and jellies.
5. Bath Soap and Salt Set
Luxuriate in the bath with a set of mason jars filled with decorative soaps and bath salts. Fill your jars with your favorite soaps and salts and then add lids and labels. Use a slotted lid to make a bath salt shaker and a screw-on liquid soap dispenser pump for bubble or bath gel. You can even use your favorite bar soap by placing it in a jar with a scrubbing poof on the bottom. Finish your jars by embellishing them with fabric or ribbon and placing them on a decorative tray.
6. DIY Snow Globe
Decorate for the holidays or jazz up your favorite souvenirs with snow globes made from mason jars. Begin by attaching a plastic figurine or souvenir to the jar’s upturned lid using waterproof glue. Then add water and iridescent white glitter or snowflake confetti to the jar, remembering to leave enough space for the figurine when submerged. Add more waterproof glue to the grooves of the lid and screw tightly before it dries.
7. Hanging Citronella Lanterns
Provide a little illumination to your porch, patio or yard with gorgeous and pest-repellent citronella lanterns. Simply wrap picture hanging wire around the neck of your jar and then attach a handle. Place a citronella candle in the jar, light and hang. For more colorful illumination, glaze the outside of the jar with translucent glass paint, such as alternating red, white and blue lanterns for your next July 4th barbecue.
8. Mason Jar Centerpieces
Clear and infinitely fillable, mason jars are great for creating imaginative centerpieces. Fill with ornaments or candy canes at Christmas, eggs and bunnies at Easter or webs and spiders on Halloween. For a more traditional look, use your jars as a vase and embellish with wide ribbon.
9. Craft Room Storage
Whether for buttons, beads or bobbins, mason jars can add organization to your creative space. Filled jars can be placed on a shelf or mounted on a wall plaque to store pencils or paintbrushes. For a great space-saving project screw your jar’s lids to the underside of a shelf and simply screw filled jars to their lids.
10. Hanging Lamps
Using either one large jar or many small ones, you can light your home with hanging lamps made from mason jars and a light fixture kit. Simply drill a hole in the bottom of the jar to pass the fixture through, and then hang and plug in. Embellish plain jars with translucent glass paint or glue small glass pebbles to the exterior. Hang over a kitchen table or run a series of lamps down a dark hallway.
