What's your Ball?

In a quiet house while watching House Hunter's International I saw the new Ball Jar Commercial. The commerical made me smile and think how VERY much I love my own (small) ball jar collection. I do love a good ball jar and I know I am NOT the only one! I prefer my ball in blue and with a glass top not the metal. I use these for extra color and food storage on my kitchen counter. Food can be so beautiful when displayed and I just love the way my blue ball jars showcase things like chocolate chips and whole wheat penne.


I only have a small collection at this point because I am a little picky and want a variety of sizes, in the blue color and with the glass tops, not the easiest to find (and did I mention for a good price?). I currently have five and I am ALWAYS looking for more, I have a few of the good ole" clear with metal lids. These I use to store food in the fridge ( I try to avoid plastic food storage where possible) or to store baby food. At this point I haven't done any traditional canning but this year might be a first with our CSA veggies, I'll keep ya posted.

Among the ladies I know who cook or antique most have a few or avidly collect ball jars and each seem to use their jars for different functions around their homes. I just love when something practical becomes something beautiful! The ball jar is a perfect example of just that! Do think the Ball Brother's ever would have thought that 132 years (see the incredible timeline of the company here) later their jars would be a coveted utensil in the modern 2011 home?

What's your ball?

Here's a few of my fav creations:

Isn't this wall of ball jars and flowers just GORGEOUS!

I love the use of chains and the different height of the jars, the how to can be found here (click on photo for link):

What a unique light a little modern a little vintage, LOVE!

What a beautiful way to store craft or office supplies

That's my Shiny -

J

A Barn Sale, Hoarders and Two Pickles, OH MY!!!

*photo courtesy of Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A few weeks back one of my girlfriends called and asked me to go to a barn sale, I was thrilled! So Saturday morning arrived and my little Q and I packed up and headed to the sale.  The day turned out to be quite an amazing ADVENTURE!!

The barn sale was a score, there were hand made things, vintage things and lots of random things and THIS GIRL WALKED AWAY WITH A GREAT THING!! I found an antique head board for Q's someday big girl room, for 18 bukeroos!!! SCORE!! The best part is that it's beautiful as is and doesn't need to be refinished or painted (however, that does not mean that this won't happen, right now I am thinking coral).

As we were checking out at the barn sale we overheard people chattering about another sale down the road with A LOT of furniture, I did hear the word "hoarders" in the chatter as well, but I was being optimistic and thought "oh they probably just like to collect things, and are just purging". Well I WAS WRONG!! I officially saw and went into a house fit to be on A&E, the things in the front yard were enough alone but the inside, oh the inside, was indescribable and NOT SANITARY!!! We got out of dodge fast, I am sure there were treasures to be found though. Like an old brass lamp I saw with a great drum shade that I am sure could have been updated with a little spray paint and fabric, or some cool old scrolly frames that could have been revamped with some paint but I couldn't stand the smell or the possible bacteria lurking to dig through the HOARD. Literally there was a hoard and I can't possibly imagine this home livable, but I think it was, ICK to the Y! I do, however feel a little special that I witnessed the sensation of hoarding!! On top of witnessing the sensation I also scored a great solid wood bookshelf for only $10! My score will need a little love and some paint.

(this beauty will be white with possibly deep blue gray on the bottom of each cubby)

So now the task of squeezing a headboard, bed rails a book shelf and a baby in our crossover SUV was another feat in itself. With A LOT OF maneuvering and some help from my friend and the hoarder we fit it all, except the baby!! So Q got to ride with our good friend to finish the rest of the journey. Which included an awesome stop at the local farmers market were we picked up two homemade GINORMOUS organic pickles for my two best boys as a delicious summer snack!!!

Oh here's another score from the week, I found this highchair by the side of the road AS GARBAGE!!! SAY WHAT!!! Stay tuned for bookshelf and highchair project updates! Can't wait!

(This little lovely will be yellow)

That's my Shiny -

J