. . . Painted Mason Jar Christmas Arrangements . . .

I love all things Mason Jars but don't have a lot of them sitting around my house but if you walk into my garage I have them all over the place just waiting to be used in a project like this one.  It's like they keep calling my name in desperation so my husband won't throw them all away.  Believe me he has threatened to just trash all my little jars and containers that I now hoard but luckily he is too nice to do it for real.  Phew!

These are going to add such a great "pop" in your house and the best is that they can be used for any season!  It's as easy as buying some paint and a few little inexpensive items that you might just have around the house. 

 I have painted glass coffee bottles and loved how they turned out but always hated how the craft acrylic paint chipped right off when I would try to put flowers or something in them.  This time I had a brainstorm to use latex paint that I had in the garage to paint my jars and I loved how these turned out!  Believe me it's worth using the latex paint because once it's dry it doesn't just chip off--at least mine hasn't.  I don't want to make any promises in case you come back and tell me yours chipped but so far so good with mine.

This project really couldn't be easier and you will love getting compliments from everyone about how creative and crafty you are.  I promise I won't tell anyone that these are super simple and require very little effort.

You will need:

Clear Glass jars--these are Walmart brand canning jars so there was no logo on them

Paint--acrylic craft paint or latex paint in the color of your choice

Lids for your jars

Washi tape

Ribbon

Floral sprigs

Cardboard or heavy paper to drain the paint 

Wooden Skewers to keep the bottles up off the cardboard or paper (Brilliant Tip thanks to Landee See Landee Do)

 Prepare your work area with a piece of cardboard or heavy paper to drain the paint out of the bottles

 I used white latex paint with primer that I had leftover from some painting projects I recently finished.  I just spooned it into the jars and then swirled the paint to coat all the sides of the jars and then slowly let it drain to the very top of the jar and then flipped them upside down on my skewers so they would drain out.

 I left my jars to drain for the morning and then flipped them upright and let them dry overnight so they would be good and "Set" so they wouldn't chip when I put my floral arrangements together.

 I used the lid rims and covered them with washi tape and then screwed them on the jars.  My original plan was to use several thin pieces of ribbon to hang these glittery ornaments from the jar but I didn't end up liking the look of that.

 When the tape is on you are ready to work on the arrangement which is super simple!

 I decided to use sheer organza ribbon in red and just tied a piece around the jar just under the lid.

 To help old the floral sprigs in place I filled each jar with black beans but you could use rice or any floral foam to help hold them in place.  I just filled the jar 3/4 the way full of black beans.

 Then stick your floral arrangement in the jar making sure the "stems" are in the beans or rice or foam to make sure they stay put.  I just used 2 prearranged floral sprigs from the craft store so there was very very little work involved in this but they look so pretty!

 Easy as pie, right?  Nothing to it!

 So pretty for the holidays.

 Because I wanted the tape to show up I didn't fold the pine down around the lip of the jar but you could easily have something "draping" down over the sides of the jar if you didn't care to show the lid.

 These are now on a shelf I have on the landing of my steps and just add a nice pop of color to that small space.

I hope you enjoy making these too!  I love painting glass from the inside so it looks shiny and almost takes on a faux milk glass look.  Don't be afraid to use lots of fun colors too--it doesn't have to be just white paint.