Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

I use mason jars for everything and matter of fact, I have tons of them around the house.

Some are in use, others are just sitting on shelves waiting. But they don't wait around for long because I'm always finding different uses for them.

For a while I've loved the look of the mason jars with the pump lid for dispensing soap in your kitchen or bathroom, but I didn't want to have to buy them when they're so easy to make.

I figured that it needed a hole in the lid for the pump to fit through. So let me show you how I made this one.

Liquid Soap of your choosing, mine is Lavender (of course). A mason jar, a big nail, hammer, and a pair of pliers.

The first thing I did was find the middle of the lid, then using the hammer and nail I poke a hole through it. Of course it's not big enough for the pump to fit through, so I then took the pliers and going in from inside of the lid, I pulled back the sides of the hole.

Kept doing that and trying the pump to see if it would fit. Once it got big enough for the pump to fit through snuggly I removed the pump........then with my hammer I pounded the sharp edges down around the hole, replaced the pump and used my hot glue gun to glue it in place.

Fill the jar with the soap and pop the lid on tightly. That's it!

Now usually the most common look is using the rusted lids, but I didn't have any of those around and again, I didn't want to spend extra money, just wanted to use what I already had on hand :)

This one is for my kitchen.........

and it sits on my sink. I love it :)

I already made another two for the bathrooms, just have to get more liquid soap to fill them up.

Reuse, Reuse, Reuse

You know the saying:

Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without - Boyd K. Packer

Well I'm a huge fan of the quote AND of following what it says.  If you think about it there is so many things in our homes that we overlook, things we are so used to just throwing out and buying another that we tend to forget that a lot of these things, have other uses.

Let's take mason jars for instance, I did a post before about how much I love glass jars and all the uses I have for them.  Remember this?

Here's another great use for wide mouthed pint jars AND used empty salt containers.  I came across this idea on Pinterest which is my weakness at the moment, I could sit on that site for hours and just look over all the amazing pictures/links.

I couldn't get on for the longest time, I had sent a request for invitation over a month ago and nothing, then the wonderful Anna from Kolkfina's Korner came to my rescue and sent me an invite and I was in, and lost for hours just looking through everything.

You may be wondering what Pinterest is and if you've never heard of it, boy are you in for a treat.  Just imagine being able to sift and save thousands of ideas, it's like an online scrapbook.  Are you looking for fashion inspiration, are you wanting to redecorate a room and need ideas, or maybe it's a new recipe you're looking for or something to make using all the yarn you have in your basket????

Pinterest lets you organize everything into different categories and sift through brilliant after brilliant idea.  I can't say enough about it.   If you would like to follow and don't want to wait for months for the invite to the site to come through, you can just let me know in the comments, make sure you leave your email and I can invite you :)  You can also follow me by visiting my Pinterest Page here.

Alright enough talking let me show you this great project.

All you need is a used Morton's Salt container, one with the spout, a mason jar and a pair of scissors.  That's it.

When your salt is empty (or not, truth be told I didn't wait, I attacked the salt container I had which was still full LOL), cut out the top white part with a pair of scissors.

If you're using a wide mouth jar, pint size, like I am.....the cardboard spout circle fits perfectly without having to cut anything else.  If you're ring for the jar is smaller, then just trace it out and cut with the scissors until it fits.

Fit it on top of the jar, slap on the ring and you're done.   I went in and pulled all the little labels still left on the top and made it nice and clean.

All that is left is to write on there with a permanent marker - SALT -  You could also use glitter pens or colored markers and write or draw on something cute as a design. 

I'm going to make a bunch of these and use them for sugar, salt, cinnamon sugar, baking soda, baking powder, bread crumbs, etc etc etc.  The possibilities are ENDLESS.

I'm also thinking of having some sitting on the kitchen table, inside a basket, sugar, creamer, salt etc.  

Who knew?

I have been throwing out my empty salt containers for so many years not once thinking of doing this.  We really do have some very smart people out there.

So go on, pull out your mason jars, pull out your salt containers and get to work.  Oh and if you do make some of these I would love for you to come back and show me :)

Are you also a firm believer in reusing and recycling?

Rain makes for a Productive Day!

I'm never one to complain and as a matter of fact, living in Arizona, we always welcome the rainfall, but sheesh, it's rained more these past 2 months than in the past 3 years we've been here.

When rain comes around, I tend to go into Creative mode, it's when I'm most eager to craft and sew and reorganize my home, so chances are, if it's raining outside, you'll find me pottering around with crochet hooks, candles and sewing thread.

And that is exactly what I did this weekend.

I'm always looking for ways to make my home more cozy, more representative of who I am and what I love, which is family and simplicity, which makes the whole country, primitive, colonial, early american decorating a huge appeal to me.

It's a work in process, living on a military base I don't have the luxury of splashing my favorite color paint on the walls, I have to make do with the typical egg shell white which is prevalent in all military housing.

But enough with the blah blah blah, let me show you some corners of my home and a bit of what I've been up to.

First thing I did was bring my breakfast nook back into the kitchen. We had pulled out our big wooden table but I was ready for a change, so while hubby was at work yesterday, I got up, and before I even had my first cup of coffee, I was sprawled out on the kitchen floor with screws and nails and bits and bobs, but I got it done.

In my corner, above the benches, I set up this little gathering area for my candles and lantern. I added a little bunch of cinnamon sticks and also made those grubby taper candles that you see in the tub.

I have this basket on my little entertainment center that holds our flat screen tv. I have started making bowl fillers, so far I've made 4 of those little stars and one of the hearts. I have another 4 stars to finish sewing and another 2 hearts, one says Faith and the other says Hope. Those are not going to stay in the basket, I'm adding some jute and hanging them from one of my shelves.

I love vintage photographs, these above are of my grandfather, grandmother and greatgrandmother, I made them black and white and printed them on photo paper. Added some more of my grubby taper candles and called it good.

Here's a close up of the candles, I'll have a tutorial for you later this week. It was my first attempt making them and they're not perfect, but I like the raw look. What you see is actually a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pumpkin pie spice. It smells divine.

I moved this shelf from the living room to my bedroom and placed it above my headboard. Added some little bunnies, old books from 1904, a sign and a bundle of grubby candles and cinnamon.

On either side, I put up the president pictures, I printed the pictures in black and white and put them in a frame. Those will stay like that for now, but this weekend I'm painting the shelves and frames black and distressing them.

Here's a closer look at the candles and cinnamon sticks. It not only looks great but my bedroom smells wonderful.

A closer look at the books, I love love love old books. I got these from ebay many years ago, they came with a copy of Macbeth and Hamlet, also hardcover old books. I'll have to take a photo of those and show you.

Above is one of the projects I'm working on right now. I have two of these black frames and you won't believe where I got them from. They are actually the outer frames from an old shoe rack.

I printed out black and white photos of my nieces and nephews and my kids to fill this one, the other one I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do, I'm thinking of finding old colonial costume photos and printing them out in black and white or sepia. We'll see what strikes my fancy.

And last but not least, Amy left me a comment and asked me to post the link to my crochet bag. Do you remember the one I made while on vacation in Texas last year?

It was a great pattern by Lucy over at Attic 24.

So there you have it, I've been busy around here and I have plenty more projects on the way, I've started crocheting a bunch of little eggs for Easter decorating and I also have some Bonnet patterns that I want to give a crack at to hang from my shelves. If you happen to know where I can find some, please let me know.

Hope you're having a wonderful Monday, I'm off to enjoy yet more rain while I eat my Orange Chicken for dinner.