Mason Cacti!

As you may already know, I am a big fan of the mason jar.  Simple, useful, and inexpensive - you can do tons with those babies and the projects just keep popping up! You may recall a blog post I did a while back about turning mason jars into an herb wall (link) and although I never got around to it (nor do I have ample light for such things), someone else in Victoria did! Take a looksie:

Haha! Ok, so it's pretty obvious that those are very much not herbs, and instead are some hearty ol' cacti! What a splendid idea! I have been having very limited luck with my herbs so far (after 9 attempts I've got 2 sort of surviving ones left) but I somehow manage to not totally kill all my cacti so maybe this is the way to go! For now I will just enjoy how great these hanging jars look in this store front and dream about a day with ample natural light. *Sigh*

Adorable Storage

When I came across these wonderful painted animal jars over on House to Home I knew I'd have to make some:


Seriously - what could be cooler? I can combine my love for mason jars (well, these ones aren't mason jars...but that is an easy modification), animals (especially bizarre coloured plastic ones), and storage! Hooray! Sure they use them for kid's stuff but I'm sure I could find a use for those in my craft room. Heck, if they turn out maybe I could use them to store pretty things in the living room (OoO I really like that idea)! And best of all? It is such a simple "will only take like a day to make" project! My fav!

After squeeling in excitement about this craft, I had a moment of deja vu. Perhaps I have blogged about this (and never ever got around to completing) this project before. I also figured I might have dreamed about blogging about them, which may sound like a pretty silly concept, but just so you know - I often have mundane dreams that I confuse with real life (which makes me sound extra crazy when I try to talk to someone about something that only happened in a dream). Well after searching back in the blog archives I don't see any technicolour animal topped jars - just a whole bunch of gold ones. Looks like I'm all about the painted plastic creatures! Check out these past posts:

1) Cupcake topper candle holders (which was actually written by Lindsay - but still counts in my books)


2) Faux gold dinos


3) Awesome gold dino terrarium friends


So many fun tutorials! I even attempted that last one (without the painting) and made a troop of coloured dino terrariums:


Yup, looks like I really like plastic animal projects. Do you ever find yourself craving the same sorts of crafts over and over again? Anyone else up for some adorable painted animal jar lids!?

Herb Wall

Not just a Housewife brings us an amazingly inspirational project combining a few of my favourite things - mason jars, inexpensive wall decor, and herbs! Take a gander:


Oh what a fun idea! I had never thought of hanging little planters on a wall, but what a great project for our new place. I'm a little hesitant starting too many new plants here since with fall (and endless rain) approaching that precious sunlight the little green friends will require may be at a minimum... Perhaps I'll modify the wall planter idea into a wall of mason jars full of organized craft supplies? What do you think? Where can you get those metal jar wrapping things?

Thrifty Thursday...on a Sunday

This past Thursday the stars aligned and somehow (seriously, it was quite the anomaly) a bunch of the girls from work and I all managed to have the same day off! Finally we had the chance to do all those things we always talk about doing "one day"! Hooray!

We met up bright and early and started the day off with some vintage cabochon stud buying. Ok, so I felt a little like a peddler selling my wares out of a Tupperware container at a coffee shop, but they had asked me to bring them to look at and I did offer them a wicked "you're my friends so I won't charge you full price" deal! My tub o' earrings dwindled a bit as my wallet grew and when we were all done we were ready to hit the town! First stop - thrift shopping! We started out at my favourite thrifty destination and after some wicked wheeling and dealing we went downtown to continue with the thrifty goodness! Look how excited everyone is:


Next it was off to lunch! Post-food we did some lovely loose leaf tea shopping and a quick trip to the mall! Oh my! The day was jam packed with wonderful moments, great finds, and loads of laughs. Clearly we need to arrange more of these joint days off things more often!

Now for the fun part - showing off my sweet finds! The best buy of the day award definitely goes to Alanna the proud new owner of a $1 faux wood tin porta file:


Ahahaha. It is so much fun going to thrift stores with piles of girls. Sure you may miss out on a few items (no, I don't really have a use for the porta file, but I do think it is hilarious), but you see so many more great things than when you go alone! If you think shopping with one set of eyes is effective you should try seven. Just when you think you've seen every last pre-loved gem in a shop, someone points out something that you clearly need to make your life complete. Ok, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a very, very fun day. Okay - now onto my finds (in list form too!):

1) Mason Jars!

Second hand stores proved to be a great (and supremely cheap) source for glass jars! They had loads of different shapes and sizes of mason jars perfect for a whole assortment of crafts I've been dreaming about! I got a nice thin tall one to use as a flower vase, a neat mid sized jar with an awesome glass lid (which I've never seen before...and don't really have any plans for...I just liked the lid), and three short squat jars I'm hoping to use as indoor herb planters! Sounds fun hey?

2) Pyrex number two!


My minute collection of pyrex is growing with my second cute find! It is the exact same size and shape as my first piece (the orange wheat one) too! How handy!

3) Glass Jar!!!


Yes, I am so excited about this find that it deserves three (yes three) exclamation marks! This baby cost me a mere $2 is will be perfect for a project I have planned...any guesses?

4) Old lady clip on earrings!


Another perk of thrift shopping with friends? They tell you when that long white pleated skirt you tried is both hideous and unflattering. Apparently I have a keen eye for picking out the most granny chic (or in many cases not chic at all) pieces and these earrings were no exception! They called to me like a shiny gold and silver beacon and I just had to have them! Unlike many of the old lady items I tried on and got talked out of, these babies can be a subtle addition to my wardrobe. Good call girls. Also the fact that they are clip on is sort of exciting since they won't stretch out my earring holes and are surprisingly comfortable to wear! What a buy!

I also picked up some super delicious teas and a few cleavage concealing bandeaus which I didn't include in the thrifted purchases list since buying consumable goods and undies from second hand stores is pretty gross. So what do you think? Do you ever try shopping with mobs of females? Anyone else have any fun thrift shopping stories to share? How do you like my finds?

i love mason jars

I've been in love with mason jar crafts for quite some time now. Whether it be filling them with mustaches for a craft show display, covering them in doilies and using them as a plant pot, or painting them for flower vases mason jars are the perfect blank canvas for a whole variety of crafty adventures! Lately, I've been swooning over mason jar lanterns from pinterest - just check out these babies made with a little wire and a few candles:


Aren't they gorgeous? I think they would be perfect for a nice summer garden party or wedding! Not that I have a yard...or time...or a marriage to plan for...but hey, they are cool right? Or if you're in for a little more technological mason jar craft how about adding lights to them:


OoOo! Aren't they awesome? I'd love to make a clustered light fixture like the project on the right there (and you can even tint the jars using a little food colouring and glue!). What fun! For now I think I'll just stick to dreaming about making these or maybe I'll start collecting jars until I can rationalize a project where I can use them! Hooray! How about you? Are you a mason jar fan? Have you seen my pinterest jar wall?

Painted Masons

I really like the idea of dipping glass jars in paint to make pretty vases. Just look how charming these ones look from project wedding:


Such an easy project too! Even easier if you had some fun paint hanging around the house (which I do not or this would already have been attempted)! And they wouldn't have to just hold flowers - you could use them to hold pencils or knitting needles too! OoO! Or even a fine collection of pom poms or a bouquet of mustaches (hehe)! You could even put little tea lights in them and line an outdoor walkway or light a summer evening get together! What fun! What would you use them for?

Upcycled Pesto

Amidst my daily internet addiction surfing I came across the most amazing paper doily jar project from pilli pilli:


As many of you know I am a sucker for mason jars, doilies, and instant gratification projects so I figured I was destined to attempt this! After all - pilli pilli promised it as a 5 minute DIY and it seemed easy enough to squeeze in my busy schedule right? Yup she was spot on - check out my upcycled before and after:



Hooray! I successfully turned that ugly pesto jar into a lovely new cactus pot! Just in time too - I don't think the noddy cup was going to last much longer:


I'm sure you're wondering, "why would you plant that little stub of a cactus in a paper cup in the first place?" Well I assure you I didn't do it just so I could write this blog post (although sometimes I think about posts based on lamer excuses). I've been wanting to get my hands on one of those cacti for quite a while. My grandma used to have a huge one by her front door and I remember visiting her as a kid and thinking how cool it was that you could pull the little leaves off the ridges of the plant and it would ooze milky stuff out of it (aren't all kids into that sort of thing?). I'm not entirely sure where that giant cactus of hers ended up but I've been wanting to get my own for years ever since. I've tried to find one in a store or online but it turns out that's a pretty hard task when you don't actually know what the plant is called. I had pretty much given up hope until I spotted one of those tall milking cacti at one of my favourite mexican restaurants! I decided to try my hand at growing my own from a clipping of their plant and headed up to my mom's house to steal her plant potting supplies. Perfect! She had little pebbles, soil, and the all important root hormone powder to help my little cactus stub establish itself. The only thing she didn't have was a pot to plant it in so we improvised with the paper noddy cup. I was planning on transplanting him into an actual pot once I could find a suitable one and pilli pilli doily jars seemed like the perfect match! Doesn't the little cactus look at home in his new jar?:


I think so! Plus I saved that old pesto jar from a livelong existence on a shelf in fraser's studio as a paintbrush water container. Perfect! Now I just need to try to not kill that plant! What do you think?

crafty preparation - part III

Another day closer to my craft show - and another new craft to add to my table! This time I thought I'd try something just for fun - mustaches on sticks! I saw mustache suckers back in october while searching around the internet and thought it would be neat to make some of my own out of felt (or course) with a little stuffing and handsewing skills! Oh my! And conveniently allows those unable to grow facial hair (such as myself) to join in on movember! And so many different mustaches to chose from:


These were totally a blast to whip up and even more fun to try on! They also allowed me to jump on the mason jar trend bandwagon since they look so great in glass!


Woo! Now I just need to figure out pricing and I'm set! Only two more days to go until the sale...and so much to do! Which is your favourite 'stache?