Jars

Hey friends. This month at Papertrey Ink, Nichole and I have whipped up two new stamps sets, complete with matching dies that embrace a theme that I love: jars. It's all about the jars. Stay tuned for some great ideas coming soon! I think you'll love all the images, sentiments and dies.

I found this page from Country Living magazine (May 2009 issue) and thought you might like to hear a little history about jars. Hopefully you can zoom in also to read the article.

(photo from Country Living May 2009 issue)

The History of the Mason Jar:

1858: John Mason invents the first canning jar with screw top lid

1884: The Ball brothers start making mason jars

1909: The first Blue Ball Book, a primer on home canning, is published

1933: The Ball Company does not lay off a single employee during the Great Depression

1972: The 88 year old family business goes public

2009: The Ball mason jar celebrates 125 years!

2010: Mish uses mason jars for everything!!

It's true, I use jars for nearly everything you can think of. I've started collecting old mason jars from auctions, the hunt for old dusty jars gives me tingles when I see them in an old box. Once I get them home and give them a good soapy bath, they're good as new. I'm particularly fond of the old blue jars with the old grey lids.

I use them to hold my crafty goodies such as buttons, ribbons and old spools....the display of jars is so much more attractive than anything plastic you can buy these days.

These little jars aren't mason jars but I still love them so. They're perfect for my rainbow display of Papertrey Vintage Buttons.
I love to see all my jars lined up on top of my shelves in my craft room.
And then there's the kitchen jars. I use them instead of Tupperware now for lots of things: a small pint jar keeps my sliced lemons and limes nice and fresh. My homemade yogurt stays fresh in quart jars. Layered salads are so pretty in clear jars. Iced tea and margis just taste better when sipped from a jar. Flowers couldn't be more pretty when stuffed into an old jar. I love, love, love the jars. They sit on my shelf just like the plates and saucers.

Jars. They evoke memories of my grandma's cellar full of canned fruits and vegetables. They remind me of my other grandmother's shelf of canned grape juice, made fresh from her vines on the back fence. They remind me of the hours and hours we spent picking and stemming green beans as a child so that we could have Mom's fresh green beans all winter long. They remind me of lightning bugs that the girls' catch all summer long. They remind me of dust covered containers that I find at the antique shop, full of some one's old buttons. They remind me of the the jams and jellies that my mom and I make together, while sweating in the hot summer kitchen.

So it's not just about the jars. It's about all the wonderful memories that go along with them. It's about all the memories that spill out every time I open a jar. It's about the process of living life and enjoying the little moments. It's about preserving all those precious times. Stay tuned this month as I share some of those little moments with you here on the blogaroonie!