Botanic Bleu: Mounted Mason Jar With Christmas Greenery

Friday, December 4, 2015

What to do with vintage mason jars?

What once were used to preserve fruits and vegetables for the long winter months when fresh food was not available, the old fruit jars no longer in use have gathered dust in basements and attics, and turned beautiful soft blue colors. Today, across the South they turn up in garage sales, flea markets, estate sales, and antique stores. There are even seven or eight in my collection of vintage finds.

There are several beautiful ideas in blogs and on Pinterest for using them in holiday decorations, and I have been mulling over those ideas. After going to the Magnolia store in Waco and seeing a mounted jar for sale, I decided that is a great way to use some of my collected fruit jars.

Here's how one of my vintage pint Ball canning jars holding fresh Christmas Fraiser fir greens turned out.

This is a photo of my inspiration from the Magnolia store in Waco. Their new jar mounted on rough wood is filled with artificial greenery. I was able to pick it up to study the materials used because I was curious about what to use to attach the jar to the board.

A scrap 1" x 6" rough cedar board, left over from replacing the outside trim around the living room French doors, was the perfect width.

Scrap metal strapping used to stabilize the outdoor water faucet's metal water pipes to the wall is exactly what was needed to attach the jar to the board.

This project came together without having to buy anything for the basic design. Canning jar √, rough cedar board √, metal strapping √... all on hand.

Even the fresh greenery was on hand, cut from the bottom of the Christmas tree. The hex head screw used to attach the metal strapping to the board is visible in this photo.

I did buy a gold glittery stem with beads to twist around the top of the jar.

Mounted mason jars fit into all the same places that Christmas swags can be hung. In addition to a narrow wall next to kitchen cabinets, they can be hung under wall lamps and on doors. Wouldn't they be pretty on either side of a bathroom mirror?

There was enough scrap 1" x 6" cedar left to mount a quart size vintage canning jar also. Instead of filling the jar with greenery, alternative uses are placing a votive candle inside the jar, or storing cookies (with a lid), or keeping clothespins handy for closing opened chip bags.

I can see using the pint jar above the quart jar on the same wall.

If you mount some canning jars on boards, think about spray painting the mounting metal strap. I considered spraying the mounting metal strap gold, but decided to leave it the original gray color.