Jingle Bell Mason Jar Christmas Lantern

I'm looking forward to the Christmas Holiday.

I'm starting to make my little Christmas crafts, and wanted to share my Christmas Lantern with you. It's real simple to make. You can use them as a decor item on your mantle, window, or front porch, or give them as a gift.

• start with a simple mason jar
• add silver  bells or pine cones

• tie a little piece of silver ribbon, into a bow around the jar

• add a couple jingle bells for embellishment
• insert a tea light candle, you can use the little battery operated ones so you can put the lid back on the jar.

• Tie a bit of wire around the top to create a handle by twisting the sides

• Turn on your candle and put the lid on. (If using a real tea light candle, leave lid off)

The little tea light that I used actually have their own internal timer and they go on for 5 hours and off for 19 hrs. they vary colors, from white to red, to green to blue. I picked them up at Home Depot.

You can also just get them in just white, and set them all in a row. Hang them from a flower pot holder.

Or a little spot on your buffet.

And just sit back and watch it flicker.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and beautiful Holiday season.
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My Cape May Lantern

For today I'd like to show you the lanterns I make from mason jars,

Cape May Lantern

I call it the Cape May Lantern  because I make them when I am down the shore, in Cape May County, and I only use white pebbles collected from the Cape May Sunset Beach.

Sunset Beach in cape May is where they find the "Cape May Diamonds" They are much like these white ones but a bit more clear and when polished and cut they shine like a diamond and make gorgeous pieces of jewelery.

I might start also collecting the peach color pebbles but for now, I have a bit of obsession for only the white ones. Some come with a hint of grey, and some with a hint or vein of sandy beige.

 It gives a nice glow from the little tea lites, and a whole bunch of these lanterns creates a magical ambiance in a yard or lining  a path for a ceremony.

You can dangle them from tree limbs, or just set them on your deck.

 Wire twisted around the neck to form a lantern handle .

 A bit of twine tied around the neck in a little nautical knot.

I try to always use the Atlas mason jar, they have been making glass jars since the 1800's here in America. Sometimes I use butchers twine, or jute twine, and sometimes sisal rope. I like the neutral and white combinations.
These come in  handy when we have power failures, which we seem to have a lot of when the heat is on, and everyone is burning the air conditioners.

To me it's just nice to have the time to be able to craft things that I like  to look at ...and that serve a useful purpose. It's the Good Life!
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Patio Dining in Florida

Come on in to my lanai in Florida

The hibiscus my hub and I put in is finally blooming

It's morning and I'm having my coffee, poofing up the patio table before the kids get up.

Come and sit for a bit with me..

  munchin on some fresh fruit.

It's a rather fun way to begin the day if you can manage to steel a few minutes before the crew awakes.

And then they wake up and say... ohhh how pretty. Because they are older now and appreciate it.

Like a picnic on the patio.

And Melissa from the inspired room is always full of interesting tips on layering, leaning and stacking...and I noticed that today she has a pretty mason jar with jute tied around it,!
These are just what I love to work with... jute, twine, sisal, and any rope around anything and everything for a nautical flavor.

 My mason jar is filled with soft white powdery sand from Siesta Key.

Everyone likes to feel it. It is really just like powdered sugar.
Siesta Key was just voted as one of Sarasota's best beaches and I recently posted about our last visit to it here.

Now that they have woken up, I will let them 

eat in peace.

Thanks go out to Sarah at a beach cottage for the mission to fluff it up a bit this Saturday.

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Storm brings in the Seashells

There were a few stormy days in Florida, which brought all the pretty and unusual shells up from the bottom of the sea!

I found my very first sand dollar. Well it was a half of a sand dollar but it is the first I ever found.
I was so excited about this.

There were loads of little pieces of beach glass, and many unusual shells.

I love the peaceful sound of shells clinking together as they get washed up on the beach.

I was thinking these will look pretty in my antique Ball Mason jar on my newly re-done, re-purposed Beachy hutch- that used to be a black laminate spacecrafty looking thing! ( which you can read about here)
So for 2 hours I gathered seashells by the seashore!
My son and his girl Erika, even had to pick some up.

The sand dollar is about 2 inches long, the large shell next to it is about a bit more than 4 inches.

and you can see from the plastic bag that I bought I got a lot of pretty purple scallop shells!

Some had perfectly tiny little holes in them just right for a slip of a silver necklace!

Wonderful gifts from the sea.

To adorn ourselves and our houses.

Memories from a fabulous day on the beach, after a storm, on Manasota Key,

when the waves are still raging, and challenging.

Simple Seashells in a jar.

So many positives that can come out of a stormy day!

My Mason full of Memories.

Posting at Funky Junk's mason Jars