Source: Drop Cloth Design Co. on Etsy

If my blog truly … truly … reflected my everyday happenings, then each and every post would look like this.

Mason jars.

Painted and distressed.

Because not a day goes by that I’m not working with mason jars. Painting, distressing, sealing, packing, labeling, and/or escorting them to the post office.

Now, I’m not one to complain. It means business is booming.

A good thing.

Because beginning in August, our family embarks on an eight year journey. Eight consecutive years of college …

tuition.

And my goal is to use this blog (and the other blog) and the Etsy shop to cover those tuition payments. (Okay, with a little help from student loans).

Which leaves me with a few concerns:

(1) Will painted and distressed mason jars still be a viable business in eight year’s time? Sure, they’re trendy now. First they made their way around the blogosphere. And now they’ve hit the mainstream masses. Which as me thinking it’s only a matter of time before this trend becomes timeworn, right?

(2) Speaking of mason jars, can my other blog devoted exclusively to all things mason jars survive … and thrive … for eight years? See concern (1) about the whole mason jar trend becoming timeworn.

(3) And speaking of blogging, what does the future hold? I know some blogs are going on 10 and 15 years now. Maybe even longer. Does that mean there is still 10 and 15 … or more … years of blogging in the future? Or will something newer and shinier and brighter eclipse the blogging world?

(4) Finally ... and scariest of all .. it seems inconceivable that I could come up with things to blog about for eight more years. That’s a long time.

But how wild would it be if we spent the next eight years together? Here. And you could share in eight years of (hopeful) college triumphs. Of a son graduating and embarking on a real life. Of a daughter graduating high school and starting college.

Of Mike and I becoming empty nesters.

Eek.

And maybe …

just maybe …

there might be a new home to share.  I’m thinking somewhere warm. Near a beach. Perhaps NC? or SC? or GA?

Recommendations are encouraged!

And that new space would become my new canvas. Because surely I’ll want to paint the walls …

at the very least. 😉

And speaking of mason jars, I’m giving away a set of my red, white & blue American Flag Jars. Click here to enter. {If you aren’t on Facebook, you can also find an entry form at my mason jar blog. Just click here}

P.S. If you’d prefer to make your own set, you can find my tutorial here and here.

P.P.S. You can find more of my ‘on trend’ mason jar project here …

This homemade lavender & mint bath salts recipe can be found here: Mason Jar Crafts Love.

Happy Mother’s Day weekend!

Don’t you love how I took a day and turned into a weekend?

You’re welcome! 🙂

And with the strike a few keyboard keys, I’ve given you carte blanche to do whatever you want to do this weekend.

You can do nothing. Or everything. Your choice.

Though, there are a few rules: (1) No housework (unless, like my sister and Monica on Friends, you get a perverse satisfaction from cleaning) and; (2) Pamper yourself.

You deserve it!

You can lounge and read. Or engage in a television marathon to get caught up on The Good Wife.

You can go on a Saturday night date with your husband.

You can take a relaxing lavender mint scented bath.

You can walk a charity 5K benefiting ovarian and breast cancer.

Oh, wait, that’s what I’m doing this weekend. 😉

And on separate but related Mother’s Day note, can I just tell my mom how much I love her? How much I admire her? How I’m truly, deeply grateful for her always being there for us …  supportive, loving, encouraging … and with a checkbook open, if needed. Together we’ve celebrated marriages and births and successes. And we’ve mourned losses and faced failures. But through it all, she has been my rock.

I love you mom!

🙂

And now I’ll leave you with a few links …

I’m definitely going to make this crispy chicken recipe (here).

This dive is jaw dropping (here).

This Mad Men fan theory (here) about how it might end blew my mind.

POW.

Wishing you all an AMAZING Mother’s Day weekend!

🙂

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Glitter Heart Mason Jar Votives

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Mason Jar Project Gallery

My to do tomorrow list has gotten out of control.

Which shouldn’t come as a big surprise. I’ve been working on it all week, after all.

Oh who am I kidding, I’ve been working on it for two weeks.

It started innocently enough. A to do today list was created at the start of a new day. Little boxes next to each item to be checked off when completed. Things like appointments for haircuts and eyebrow waxing to schedule. Errands to run. Projects for the house … and the blog … to be started. Or completed. Or photographed.

But at the end of each day, only the bare minimum would get done. Little boxes next to necessities like food shopping and Etsy shop orders would get checked.

So each new day, the to do today list would grow a little longer. New things cropped up. New appointments to make. New projects to start. New bills to be paid …

new things to move to the to do tomorrow list. 😉

I just couldn’t get my act in gear. I was easily distracted.  There were funny animal videos on YouTube that needed me to be the 75,397,321th viewer. And I had to read the Mad Men TV Club recaps on Slate. And the Game of Thrones TV Book Club at EW.com …

and then the unthinkable happened on Thursday night. I can’t speak of it yet. But Friday morning had me seeking out answers. And comfort from fellow television viewers who did not get an early copy of Entertainment Weekly in their mailbox and were literally as blindsided as McDreamy was by that mac truck …

🙁

And just one more Grey’s Anatomy link (here). Make sure you click on the music before reading. It adds to the sadness of it all.

And today?

Today is a new day. A rainy Saturday. And a day I fear is to do tomorrow list day …

Though in all fairness, the list has grown so long  that it’ll take three or four … or more … tomorrows to add checks to all those appointment making and errand running and project starting/completing/photographing little boxes.

😉

P.S. You can find the tutorial on how I made those Mondrian Stained Glass Mason Jars on the other blog, Mason Jar Crafts Love. Just click here …

You Might Also Like:

How To Make Blue Tinted Mason Jars

How To Paint & Distress Mason Jars

Mason Jar Project Gallery

{Click here for the full tutorial on how to make these mason jars}

Dear Facebook Friends,

You’re killing me.

One happy Spring Break vacation post at a time.

There you are in a tank top and shorts smiling wide with one arm flung around your “girl” and the other toasting (or is that taunting) me with your fruity-umbrella-garnished drink.

There you are smiling wide in Times Square, waving your Broadway show playbill at me.

There you are scaling some ancient ruin in an exotic European locale.

There you are sitting in a teacup at Walt Disney World, arms enveloping your sun-kissed tow headed kids.

There you are lined up atop a snowy mountain, just before skiing down the double diamond trail.

There you are flanked by your five kids as you eat beignets in the French Quarter.

There you are sipping your morning coffee at an outdoor café against a backdrop of clear blue skies and palm trees.

There you are at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, showing me the early morning ocean view from your balcony.

Sigh.

And here I am at home. In overcast Chicago. Enduring a week of damp 40 and 50 degree weather as I clean out closets and paint mason jars and spend hours upon hours waiting for the DMV to process the IL state ID my daughter needs for her upcoming 8th grade class trip to Washington, D.C.

And each and every one of your fabulous Spring Break vacation posts is like a dagger through my heart.

And in-between the closet cleaning and mason jar painting and waiting endlessly at the DMV, I’m also creating some new mason jar listings for the Etsy shop. Like these Spring Break inspired painted mason jars with daisies.

I share a full tutorial on how I made them here. Or, you can just let me make them for you (order here).

All in all, this is not a fabulous Spring Break vacation.

Certainly nothing worthy of a Facebook post …

🙂

Linda

For even more mason jar project ideas, click here …

Mason Jar Project Gallery

I am under no illusion that Spring will arrive anytime soon in Chicago. Not when the wind chills are clocking in at below zero as I type this …

In fact, Spring in Chicago is an oxymoron. It’s a fleeting event. Arriving in bits and spurts. A warm day here. A sunny week there. Interspersed with snow. Or frost. Faking out the tulips. Just when they think it’s safe to peek out from under their winter beds of earth, a spate of cold cuts them off.

Sigh.

At least we can count on spectacular Indian Summers.

So for now, we have to rely on grocery store tulips to keep our Spring dreaming alive …

They are a perfect addition to my daughter’s new room mini remodel (which I have yet to share here but will soon; finishing touches are being attended to!). But when we stumbled across an aqua metal side table at IKEA a few weeks ago, it set a very Spring-like vibe in her new space.

And can I just share that I got a little teary eyed when she requested some painted and distressed mason jars for her room?

Who knew?

I’m so happy she doesn’t think of me as that reclusive, crazy woman whose always painting and sanding mason jars in the basement. And wrangling with bubble wrap and shipping tape and packing peanuts  in the living room …

😉

Now if you, like me, need to be reminded on this wintry Saturday that Spring is just a few weeks away, then I have some very Springy eye candy for you from my blogging friends. Just follow the links to be inspired …

by Spring …

Faux Garden Clock at Worthing Court

{swoon}

Easy Springtime Planter at The Everyday Home

{adorbs}

Whitewashed Pots at Snazzy Little Things

{so doing this!}

Spring Wreath at Dandelion Patina

{burlap … and chalkboard … and mossy twine balls. oh my!}

Happy Saturday to you!

🙂

Linda

It’s the weekend. And I should be excited. I should be winding down. Relaxing. I should be snuggled on the couch with my fuzzy sweater and fuzzy slippers absorbed in a good book …   But there’s no rest for the weary.   This weekend brings with it a lengthy list of to do’s:   1. There are 80 mason jars that need to be painted. Or spray painted. And second-coated. And distressed. And sealed. And packed for shipping on Monday.   2. There’s that pesky FAFSA college financing application for my son that should have been filled out in January, but I keep putting off …

and off …

and off.

3. There are bill collectors who would like their money.

4. There are dust bunnies that need to be wrangled by the vacuum cleaner. Not to mention stoves that need cleaning and counters that need wiping and bathrooms that need disinfecting.

5. There are projects and crafts that need to be created and photographed so I have things to share with you next week.

6. There’s a big blog giveaway I’m organizing that needs a graphic. And follow up emails to all the blogger participants and giveaway sponsors.

7. There are Essential Oils I invested in as a money-making opportunity for the blog, but they aren’t making me money sitting in an unopened box in the entryway.

8. Oh, and I can’t forget to corral our tax receipts together so I can deliver them to the accountant next week.   So while I get busy on all those pesky to do’s, I’ll leave you with a link. Just one this time. To this Huffington Post article:

“7 Things That Make Your Home Look Dated”

  I’ll be honest, this article stuck with me. And not in a good way. Perhaps it’s the title. It certainly sets a tone for decorating shaming …   which is exactly what the article does. Shames you about your decorating choices.   And that gets my Jersey up. I mean, we each have our own tastes and styles and should be encouraged to celebrate our individuality.  

If you like a chevron, embrace it!

If you’re in love with turquoise and blue, celebrate it!

If you sleep in a reindeer-less sleigh bed, go for it!

And some of the changes the article suggests are expensive. It’s one thing to change out a fabric, but ripping out and installing a new kitchen backsplash? Or buying a new bed frame? Those are big ticket items for my living-by-the-seat-of-our-pants budget.

And if you check out the comments thread, not a single reader was pleased with the author’s advice. They weren’t mean, per se. But I couldn’t help nodding along in agreement as I read.

So, what say you? Is my critique too harsh? Or maybe I’m just as dated as my home …

or annoyed that I’m too busy to snuggle up on the couch with my fuzzy slippers and fuzzy sweater and a good book.

Linda

P.S. I share a tutorial on how I made those red, white, and blue mason jars in the crate above on the other blog, Mason Jar Crafts Love. Just click here for the tutorial …

P.P.S. Those red, white, and blue jars in the crate are also listed at the Etsy shop. I’m calling them All-In-One-American-Flag jars. There’s a quart with two pints set (here) …

… and a three pint set (here)…

You Might Also Like:

Red White Blue American Flag Mason Jars

Union Jack Mason Jars

Mason Jar Craft Gallery

According to my very own very unscientific study, gold decor is gaining in popularity. I know a lot of bloggers started to embrace gold over the past few years. Myself included (here and here).

But now gold has gone mainstream …

tickling the fancy of the masses.

I mean, how else to explain the explosion of gold mason jar orders at the Etsy shop in 2015?

In December, I spray painted a mere 13 gold jars. But in January? That number jumped to 33!  And if I was good at math I could tell you what percentage increase that was; but, alas, I am not gifted with math skills so no percentages will be calculated.

All I know, it’s a pretty big increase. More than doubled. Not quite tripled …

but close.

And speaking of mason jars, we had a bit of a glitter issue around here this past week. I’ll go so far as to call it glittergeddon. You can find out more about it at Mason Jar Crafts Love here …

And now for some chip-worthy things that caught my eye this week …

My friend Laura reminded me about the HGTV Dream Home sweepstakes. And since I’m on a lucky streak, I had to stop by and enter (here).

I also entered the $25 Grand in Your Hand Fixer Upper sweepstakes. To enter, you need to watch the show for a secret code. And I’m secretly hoping that if I win, Chip and Joanna will show up on my front porch to deliver the oversized check. And perhaps give my very own fixer upper a fix.

My friend Debbie shared a beautiful tablescape idea this week. And her photography blew me away. Simply stunning. Magazine worthy! Check it out here …

My friend Kim created a painted furniture masterpiece. She is so talented! I love everything about it. The colors. The  The knobs. Oh, and her amazing painting & caring for painted furniture tips are … well … amazing! Check it out here …

Speaking of painted furniture, my friend Karen is another master furniture painter. I love so many of her projects, but this dresser made to look like inlay is draw dropping. Seriously. And you seriously have to check it out for yourself  here …

On a final note, if you’re looking for some easy, last minute game day entertaining ideas, I’ve shared some tips over at Inspired Home (here).

And I’ll leave you on this chilly-snow-is-on-the-way weekend with another one of my guilty-pleasure online addictions: Humans of New York.

Enjoy!

Linda

I still have some remnants of Christmas in … and outside … our home.

A Santa head here. A red pillow there.

But my biggest .. most shameful … and most visible indiscretion is right outside our front door. For all our neighbors and passerby’s to see …

Green garland still adorns the fence. And porch railing. Complete with big, bright red bows.

Not to mention the wreath on the door.

And when I drive through the neighborhood and see a scattering of others, like I, who are still fully decorated on the outside, I give a little air fist bump of solidarity.

Plus, they make me feel better about myself.

I mean, at least our lights and tree are down …

At first I justified our lingering Christmas outdoor décor on the weather. I mean, it was just too darn cold that first week of January. Why risk snow bitten fingers and toes?

Right?

Then the snow came. And who wants to wrestle with snow covered greens? Plus, they looked very sweet covered in snow.

Right?

Those excuses covered weeks one and two. Weeks three and four are just sheer laziness. Forgetfulness. Procrastination combined with an overwhelming amount of Etsy shop Valentine jar orders …

Right?

So while you sit inside … nice and warm with a cup of coffee or tea in hand … and visit the links of things that caught my eye this week, I’ll be bundled up outside unraveling green garland from our fence and porch railings.

Although, maybe I can delegate this task to my husband and two able-bodied teenagers …

On to the links!

Let’s start with my addictions. Some in my family may even call them obsessions. Starting with Buzzfeed. And Harry Potter. And when the two collided, I was over the moon. Especially when a reporter at Buzzfeed started to watch the Harry Potter movies for the first time in his 30’s. I devoured his series of articles recapping his reactions. Starting here with his first movie viewing experience.

My friend Kim is so darn creative. And original. Can you guess what she made for Valentine’s Day?

Click here to find out. You won’t be disappointed.

I have food on the mind this week. Like this decadent chocolate creation.  And this amazing cake I would never in a million years think to create. And now I can’t stop thinking about it!

And this amazing tip on  how to perfectly cook bacon. Who knew?

This story makes me want to stay far, far away from the ocean.

And last, but not least, I’m sharing a tutorial on how I made those Mr. & Mrs. etched mugs on the other blog, Mason Jar Crafts Love. Just click here …

Have a fabulous weekend!

Linda