I love finding new uses for things that are usually trashed.I have saved jars,plastic containers with lids and boxes.The list goes on and on.i am not a pack rat by any means ,the things I save have a clear purpose in my mind.If they do not get used at some point I do trash them.The net has been a source of great inspiration to me.I use it like a library and feed my mind of new things everyday.
Now that being said lets move on to what I have always wanted to do.... make my own vintage looking jars without paying an arm and leg for them.
I can still see my Grandmother Cason's cook house with it's cement floor and long bench tables that we all sat around on family gatherings.She was a mother of 15 children and I forget how many grand and great grandchildren. When I was growing up there was never a lack of playmates.The cook house was large and hot in summer and cold in winter.I can remember looking inside the shelves and finding coffee cups that had filters right inside the cup to strain the coffee grains(no coffeemaker just steep and strain) .
The depression coffee cups and the colored jars. Depression
glass was given out free at many store even movie theaters.Some was included in food package like toys was in cereal and crackerjack boxes.This was to entice the buyer to purchase the product .After all during the Depression times was hard and the poor people had no money to wast on pretty dinner ware.The pretty colors and etching on the depression ware gave them pretty dinner ware to use. If you would like to know more about the subject I have included some links.You might be surprised at the things you can learn about that time period just by looking at the products that were used .
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Copyright © 2008 by National Depression Glass Association
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| Hazel Marie Weatherman, copyright 1974. |
 http://www.mindspring.com/~reyne/dg.html
Now mason jars
were colored blue and a few other colors because it was said that the darker the jar’s color is, the longer the food lasts. Today the jars are used not only for food but as a decorated accent for the home.Had we only known that the things from our past would be the treasures of our future we each could have carried a link to our family roots that could be shared with our children.
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Now I will share the links I found on how to color your own jars below.Remember you don't have to limit yourself to mason jars.I save pickle ,mayo,fruit,and just about any other jar that catches my eye.
Lets begin exploring the diy art of jar color !
First thing to remember is that these methods are NOT intended for food use.If you want color jars for food use you will need to purchase color jars.
If you know of a way to color jars that are safe for food use ,please share with us .I always love learning something new.
1. HispanicallyEverAfter has a great tut for coloring jars .Nice pictures and clear directions.
http://hispanicallyeverafter.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/diy-color-tint-glass-jar/
2. Chicken in the Road is another tut.In this one she goes in great detail of the failures and successes of dying the jars. I found this tut of great help in information .If you never look at another tut I would recommend this one be on the must read.
She has a very nice imagery of the process and as a visual person this was right up my alley.
Do read the full post and not skip right to the tut.It has very good information .
3. DIY: Tinted Mason Jars in Rainbow
4 Craftaholice Anonmos
has a tut on creating permanent dyed jars basically the same as the others except she uses
Crystal Gloss Enamels to color the jars.
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| COPYRIGHT © 2012 CRAFTAHOLICS ANONYMOUS
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5.Last but not least is creative little daisy blog site.Another great image tut .I love the little jars!So cute
there you have it.Several sites to get you started on creating those vintage jars at a fraction of the price.Even if it is not the actual ware from my childhood it still brings back those fond memories of my childhood that are long past.Families grow and move on,mothers ,daughters ,sons and farthers all have families of there own and if we don't hold to our past we lose a little bit of our future.So tell the stories and save that scrap of past to hand down to your children and most importantly make those memories .Sometimes memories are all we are left with,save the good and lose the bad.
Remember
Love What You Are Doing
and
Do What You Love!
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