Mason Jar Safe

I love making crafts and I love it even more when they turn out the way I had hoped. I saw this great idea on Linda's site @ Behind My Red Door. I thought it was a great idea and I decided to make some myself. Linda used rice in her jars, but I decided to use oats in mine. Basically, you take a plain old Mason Jar, a toilet paper roll, a hot glue gun and your choice of filler. Clean and dry your jar out, put hot glue on the rim of the toilet paper roll and place it on the bottom of the jar. Once that has had a chance to dry then you fill the outside of the jar with your filler. I used oats, but you can use beans, rice, pasta or anything you want to put in your jar. Once you are done then you can decorate your lid however you would like. I took some old homespun and made them a bit grubby along with my tags and then added the homespun to my lid along with my tag. Below are some pictures that I included for you. The first picture is of the tags before I made them grubby.

This picture was taken after the tags were sitting in the grubby mixture

Here is what you can use the jar for. It is a great place for hiding money!!

Here is one finished jar.

Here is the other finished jar.

This label sat in the grubby mixture for 5 minutes. The mixture is basically 2 cups of hot water, 1/4 cup of instant coffee, 3 tea bags and a small amount of cinnamon. You basically mix the ingredients above, let the tea bags set for awhile and then take them out. Stir to mix up well and then soak your tags for approx 5-10 minutes. I went 5 minutes on my tags. Place the tags in a single layer on a paper plate that is lined with paper towels and microwave for approx 40 seconds. You want to go intervals of 40 seconds so they don't burn. VOILA - they are done and ready to use. Before microwaving them you need to sprinke with a bit of cinnamon. I myself seem to like the ones without the cinnamon, but you can pick because there are pictures of both. Once they are totally dry then you can stamp your label or hand write on them. Pretty simple if you ask me. The only drawback of working with this mixture is that your fingers smell like coffee for a little while and with me not being a coffee drinker.... well, it is just not the scent that I want to smell over and over (lol).

Crock Bowls - Family Treasures

We went over to visit my in-laws today and we had quite an enjoyable time. With the weather not being so great we have been staying in and not going out in the frigid temperatures. Anyway, my MIL fixed homemade vegetable soup and it was perfect for a cold day. She wanted to take some soup over to her parents and we thought we would tag along and go visit them. Cameron was pretty excited to see them as well. We had been there for awhile and my MIL knows me quite well so she decided to show me some of her Mom's antiques. Well, she decided to show me some old crocks, crock bowls, old trunks and her china. Well, her Mom has always told her and all of the grandchildren that if they see anything that they want then to put there name down on the piece of paper and write down what they want. Once they pass away then everything that is on the paper will be given to that individual person. Well, my MIL found the paper and wrote down my hubby's name next to the crock bowls for me as well as an old antique clock. I don't have any pictures of these particular crock bowls, but I can tell you that one is blue (a bit darker then the one pictured) and one is a mustard color and they are absolutely beautiful. I am so excited that she said that I could have them and it means so much that they were willing to let me have them. I am such a sentimental person and when I get items that are antiques from my family. . . well, they just mean the world to me. I treasure them!!

I attached a picture of what the bowls "kinda" look like, but these bowls that I will be receiving are much more prettier then this one. Oh, these bowls have so much detail on them and they really truly are beautiful. Just had to share my day with all of you.

An Old Window = A Great Picture Frame

Another great find at an antique mall in Amish country. Are you getting tired of hearing about Amish country yet or seeing all of my great finds? Well, I bought this old window for $5.00 and it still has the glass in it too. I decided to keep the prim look, but use it as a place for all of my pictures of my little miracle baby Cameron. So, I took some construction paper.....yep, it was the same color of my walls and added the pictures and then into the window they went. I thought it turned out pretty cute. I know that some people just decorate their windows with some rusty star garland or some greenery, but I thought it was a neat idea to use it for some of my many pictures that I have of my son. He is a very special little boy. After years and years of trying, a loss of a child in 2004 and years of infertility treatments, we conceived Cameron through IVF. He is the light of my life and my whole world. I indeed wouldn't know what to do without him. You can check out my other blog which is totally dedicated to living my life with my husband and our sweet little 2 year old boy.

The blog address is http://lifewithinfertility-lisa.blogspot.com

Just a Few Primitive Pictures

I have tons of little pictures here and there and everywhere in my home. If I find a saying that I like then I simply have a friend stitch it up for me and frame it. The first picture is one that I saw in a cute little shop close to where my Mom & Dad live. This shop is called Sara's Herbs & Everlasting and she has so many cute things. Not only is her shop full of cute prims, but it is also full of dried flowers and lots of cute things that she has made herself. The last two pictures are ones that I had made personally. I loved the sayings and had a friend make them for me. I thought they turned out so cute. I have them in my family room and they look cute next to all of my other prims. Hmmm, what other sayings could I add to my collection?

Antiques & Decorating

One of the many things I love about Amish Country is all of the Antique Malls that I have to go through. My Mom and I normally go out to lunch and then we walk on over to an antique mall that is just on the other side of the parking lot. We pass by Amish buggy after Amish buggy, look at all of the antiques out on the front porch area and then cruise the isles just to find those perfect antiques that you feel like you can't live without. Well, awhile back I decided that I wanted to get an old ladder for my kitchen. I had looked through numerous magazines and saw where they hung the ladder from their ceiling and decorated it neatly with berries. Well, I did just that, but I took it a step further and decided to add a few additional antiques to it. I found some GREAT looking antique kitchen utensils and thought they would look wonderful hanging from an "S" hook. So, I purchased a few "S" hooks and made my way home. Once at home I decorated my ladder with some red berries, hung up my utensils and added a few extras here and there. So, here are my utensils that I felt like I couldn't live without and of course there is a picture of my ladder. It adds such warmth to my kitchen and I love this focal point.

Gotta love that grungy look

It has been awhile since I have been to Amish Country, but one thing that I got there last time was my recipe book holder. I just love it!! It isn't a great picture of it, but it kinda gives you an idea. I wish it was bigger and wider because I have so many more cookbooks then just these that are shown. The little drawer below is perfect for any loose recipe cards and any recipes that you might cut out of a magazine and not have a chance to right down yet. Anyway, I love the look.

This little guy was made by a friend of my Mom's. I just love him. She made him and created the grungy tag which I now have a recipe for..... would you really call it a recipe since you can't eat the tag (lol). Anyway, I found the recipe on the internet and I think I am going to try to make a couple grungy tags this weekend to attach to some mason jars that are full of my Grandpa's old marbles and my Grandma's old buttons. I thought a grungy tag would look cute tied around the lids. I have the jars currently displayed on one of my shelves.

This cute little elephant was made by the same gal that I had mentioned up above. She is indeed so talented and I personally think she should start up a business of her own. She makes all sorts of cute primitive animals, dolls and she also does alot of stitching. I can't even recall how many things I have had her stitch for me. I take a favorite saying and have her stitch it for me and then she roughs up a new picture frame to make it look old and sprays that grungy spray on it to make it look old and VOILA....... it is complete. Her husband is equally talented.... he is really handy when it comes to wood-working. He has made some beautiful shelves for me, stands and well the cupboards are beautiful.

Antiques

I am not sure about you, but I love going through the antique shops in Amish Country. I am always looking for something old, something real old that I could use for decorating. Awhile back when I went to Amish Country with my Mom we went through a couple antique shops and looked through all of the goodies. I bought quite a few old antique kitchen utensils and hung them from my ladder which is hanging from my ceiling in my kitchen. I also bought a few other things to display on my cupboard in my kitchen. I love my Amish made cupboard that my Mom purchased for me at Country Gatherings.... I decided to go with the black cupboard because I just loved the way it looked. You could probably click on the picture to get a better look at some of my antiques.....I have an old crock on the top of my cupboard along with an antique pulley and then I have a kraut cutter and a cheese grater just to mention a few. I love the way they look with my some of my other primitives.

My mother in-law gave me this old antique trunk. I have it at the end of our bed and I just love the way that it looks. Both handles are gone off the side and as you can see there is a bit of the front that was torn off when it was given to me, but other then that I just love the way it looks and was so happy when she decided to give it to me. Don't you love it? I love old trunks like this, but then again I love old stuff!! Just think of all the history behind this trunk.

I remember when I was younger and I use to go visit my grandparents. They had a walk up attic that I truly loved exploring. They had a couple closets that I would go through every single time that I would go visit. I knew that there wouldn't be anything new in there, but just the thought of going through it and looking at all of the Old Zane Grey books, Roseville Pottery, old photo albums and records was just something I truly enjoyed. Both of my grandparents have passed away and of course all of the old antiques went to my Mom. I am hoping that someday they will be passed along to me and then I can proudly display some of them..... if not all of them.