Jar love

I just read this post over at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia (you should see her pictures!) about saving your glass jars, and it fanned even more into flame my new love for re-used glass jars and bottles.

I.

LOVE.

it.

Like you, we have all kinds of jars coming through our house on a weekly basis....applesauce jars, spaghetti sauce jars, wine bottles, salsa jars, pickle jars, etc. But it wasn't until I wanted to make these.....

...that I started thinking of new uses for them. So far, I have used them as vases, drinking glasses, wine cork holders, iced coffee containers (thanks, Kelly!) and outdoor candle holders.



I think I just love how they whisper of a time not that far out of reach...a time I really want to get back to....



where folks beat the heat on their front porch with neighbors and iced tea in mason jars...


where almost everyone had a lush garden and spent long afternoons canning their bounty so they could share and save for the winter...


where neighbors and friends traded the goodies they grew...


where food was fresh, earned with hard work and usually traveled less than a mile to your table....


...where neighbors really shared life...


and where materialism, the latest catalogs and new stuff didn't compete with a cup of tea and a home baked treat shared at the table with a dear friend.




Sigh.


I know a few people who live this way now, and they really make it feel like this kind of simplicity is in reach.



Another thing I love about reusing glass jars is that it's free (cause you would probably ditch it otherwise), and it takes very little effort. Just soak those bad boys in hot, soapy water and peel off the label. Josh used WD-40 and it took the leftover adhesive right off.


Gotta love a man toting WD-40!


So what about you? Do you reuse them? I would love to hear about anything else you reuse too. Share the knowledge, people!