Monday, April 21, 2014

How to Make Burlap and Lace Mason Jars

I love the texture of burlap paired with lace. The combination of rustic and feminine fits my style to a tee.   The best part... you can make your own in about five minutes.

Burlap and Lace Mason Jars


So a few weeks ago, my sisters, mom and I had a little get-together at my sisters house for a few days. We had lots of good food, the cousins got to play all day, and we did projects. The main project we worked on was building frames from old barn wood. We made them for a picture of my grandpa's barnyard that we all have. I will be sharing more about that project sometime. We also did a couple simple projects in the evening after the kids went to bed. One of them was these burlap and lace mason jars.

Burlap and Lace Mason Jars
 Have you seen all the colored burlap in the stores lately? I just can't help but get a 1/2 yard of each color when I see it. I've got a stash of cream, sage green, orange, dark brown, brown, blue and pink.

Burlap and Lace Mason Jars


I love the blue and brown together. And I thought the pink was perfect for spring and Easter. I ended up using the pink jar to hold our Easter Egg Tree, but it's super cute with the spring flowers that I grabbed out of my little girls room.

Burlap and Lace Mason Jars

Want to make your own Burlap and Lace Mason Jars?

Here's what you need:
Quart sized Mason Jar
Burlap
Lace
Hot Glue
Scissors

I didn't do a step-by-step with pictures, because... well... it's just so easy.  

Cut a piece of burlap into a 4" strip. Wrap it around the mason jar and let it overlap about a half inch and cut. Then simply hot glue it in place.

Repeat with a 2 1/2" strip.

Then wrap your lace around the jar with a half inch overlap and cut. Then glue in place.

Burlap and Lace Mason Jars

 A word about the lace - there were three colors of this crocheted type lace at my local craft store. There was white, cream, and then this color which has sort of a brownish tint to it. My preference for this project is the brownish one.

Burlap and Lace Mason Jars

Are you a burlap and lace sort of person?

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

How to Make Strawberry Freezer Jam

My favorite jam is Strawberry Freezer Jam. I always watch for strawberries to go on sale this time of year and then make several batches of this freezer jam. Follow along and learn how to make it yourself.  It's SO much easier than canning jam and I like it better too.


Strawberry Freezer Jam


How to Make Strawberry Freezer Jam


Strawberry freezer jam



I originally showed you how to make Strawberry Freezer Jam two years ago. This is the same tutorial with a few notes about what I did differently this time around.


Strawberry Freezer Jam
I used two different freezer jam pectins. The one on the left you add sugar too and the one on the right has the sugar included.  I can't really tell the difference. I had the one on hand and the other was what the store had. There is a price difference, but if you figure that you don't have to add the sugar, then it probably evens out. {Now the ball pectin comes in a jar.}

I'm not sure that a tutorial is really necessary since it's so easy and the instructions are on the back of the pectin package. But I'll do one anyway.

First step, wash the berries and cut off the stems and any bruises.

Strawberry Freezer Jam


Next chop them up. I'm not sure what this tool is called. My mother-in-law got it at a yard sale, but it works perfectly for this. It chops the berries up super fine without pureeing them like a blender would. {I got a new blender for Christmas and it has a food chop option. It worked wonderfully without pureeing it.}

Strawberry Freezer Jam


Mix in the pectin {make sure to follow the instructions on the package, you may need to mix the sugar into the pectin first}

Strawberry Freezer Jam
Then stir it very well and pour into freezer containers. I've know people who use canning jars. You can  use anything you have. Over the years I've purchased enough of these containers made especially for freezer jam. It's definitely not necessary though. Use what you have. {This year, I used up all of these little jars and then had to use canning jars too.}
Strawberry Freezer Jam


Enjoy right away or freeze. It should last up to a year in the freezer.

Strawberry Freezer Jam




Be sure to check out my canning page at the top of the page to see all my other canning and preserving posts.