Mason Jar Decor

I have been preparing for spring for a while and have been looking forward to the nice weather while being at home on maternity leave and one of the ways that I did this was by making some new table decor for my kitchen.  Now that is is finally starting to warm up, I am excited to show off my new decor.  Everyone who has come by has commented on how much they like them!

I made these several weeks ago, but with a new baby and million other things on my "Maternity Leave To Do" list before I go back to work I haven't had a chance to share until today.

I had seen some hydrangea arrangements as table centerpieces that I really enjoyed and right now you can find just about anything made from Mason Jars and I love that, but I don't have the right kind of house for a lot of the Mason Jar decor that I see and love.  This however, I do...

Mason Jar Decor

You will need:

• clear mason jar or other glass jar in any shape or size that you like
• acrylic paint in the color of your choice
• paint brushes
• silk hydrangea or other flower of your choice
• wire cutters (for flower stems)
• clear gloss spray paint (something like this)
• plant styrofoam

Optional:

• ribbon or other embellishments

 Choose the color of paint that you would like for your first jar and paint the INSIDE of the jar.  I had to do a few coats to fully cover my jar and cover all the small spots that I was missing.  By painting on the inside of the jar, you will lessen your chances or chipping the paint while moving them or storing them or from little hands that might get ahold of your pretty flowers. :) 

You can use any kind of paint for this...small acrylic bottles that you can buy at Wal-Mart or gallon paint that you might have left over from another project.  I used both kinds for my jars and they all turned out just the same.

After you have the entire INSIDE of the jar painted to your liking and it has dried, spray the inside of the jar with the clear gloss and allow to dry once more.  By spraying the inside of the jar, you are lessening your chances of chipping the pain on the inside while changing out flowers or inserting styrofoam into the jar.

Once everything has dried, cut your styrofoam pieces to fit just inside the neck of the jar and insert them into the jar.  And lastly cut your flower stems just a few inches long.  Not too long that it is hard to insert them into the styrofoam, but long enough that you can keep the flowers in the jar without falling out if they are moved or bumped for any reason.

When you are done with the flowers for that season, you can change them out with new ones and as your styrofoam degrades you can easily switch it out with a new piece so that these jars can be used for several months or years.

Happy Spring!