Fall Crafts with Mason Jars (AKA: Entry into Alpha Chi Blogger) by Linda Braden
I don’t know how I – or my home – survived for so long without book page wreaths or mason jar soap dispensers or pallet walls and pallet desks and pallet headboards … Silly me. All those years in the dark thinking book pages were for reading and pallets were for transporting large loads of merchandise and mason jars were for canning. Thankfully, about a year ago, I discovered the world of DIY and home décor blogging and was set straight. Otherwise, when I strolled through the Target at the beginning of the summer I would’ve walked right past that case of Ball mason jars. Wouldn’t have given them a second thought.
But now? Now that I’m a bona-fide blogger? I know better. So I bought them. And put them in the trunk of my car. And that’s where they sat. All. Summer. Long.
And every time I opened the trunk and saw them staring at me I thought, “I’m a failure at this blogging thing.” And, “I’ll never be initiated into the DIY and home décor blogging sorority …” You see, often times I view my first year of blogging like pledging a sorority. Alpha Chi Blogger. And as a pledge there are certain “tests” of design and crafting that are required before I’ll be welcomed into the sisterhood … So in the interest of showing Alpha Chi Blogger that I’m a good pledge, I hauled those mason jars out of the trunk and got all Halloween crafty with them … 
I started by making some mummy votives I first saw here. I wrapped the jar with gauze and secured it at the top with a rubber band, folding the gauze over to hide it. Then came some googly eyes and a tea lights … and voila. Cute and cuddly mason jar mummies. Then there was the science experiment … 
… that involved food coloring and some dollar store eyeballs, body parts, and mice. Wonder if the kids will notice them in fridge when they get home from school? Tee hee. These mason jar drinking glasses have me considering hosting a Halloween party … 
… just so I can show them off. The tops are just plain old cupcake liners. And now I should be saying drum roll please … as in I’m saving the best for last. Instead, I’m saving the most labor-intensive for last. The most labor-intensive riddled with lessons learned. Lessons like don’t be impatient and glob on the paint. It will drip. And those drips will be glaringly obvious once the sun goes down and the candles are lit. 
And use jars with flat surfaces, especially if your hand painting skills rival a fourth grader’s … If you want to see what these jars look like sans drips, I followed the project I pinned here, including drawing the faces on with Sharpies first … and finishing them with a clear coat of glossy spray enamel. Here’s hoping these four mason jar crafts will finally earn me membership into Alpha Chi Blogger. 
And if not, I’ve posted a fifth mason jar fall idea on my blog today. I wonder if they have a secret handshake?
About Linda: Who am I? Why I’m a wife. A mom. A homeowner. A city dweller. A nail gun user. A DIY-er. I’m also a poor woman’s Martha Stewart … mostly because I’m significantly poorer than Martha. My empire is much smaller. It’s a 2,500 square foot empire with a 100+ year old foundation sitting on a standard over-priced city of Chicago lot. And my challenge is to DIY some charm and character back into this builder-grade homogenized space as I update my early 2000’s décor. I share the good, the bad, and all the in-betweens on my blog, it all started with paint. Oh, and my name is Linda. Linda Braden. And I can also be found hanging out on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Hometalk … or sewing up a storm for my Etsy shop.
Fall Crafts with Mason Jars (AKA: Entry into Alpha Chi Blogger) by It All Started with Paint was written exclusively for Bonbon Break Media, LLC.
