Flower Power

I will admit, I’m not the best at maintaining plants in my home. But that doesn’t mean I don’t absolutely love them. Now that spring is right around the corner, thoughts turn to blooming trees and flowers. On my list of homey things to become good at this year is creating (and maintaining) flower arrangements. In preparation for that, here are 3 easy steps to getting your home spruced up with flowers for spring:

The vase can easily act as an accent piece in your home (like the red and white poppy  vase from Anthropologie), it can be a more neutral choice with a pop of colour (like the Kauai vases from CB2), or it can be a simple clear vase that allows the flowers to pop on their own (like the Kanist vase from Ikea). Or, you can have a mixture of all 3 with different flower arrangements throughout your house.

Tons of gorgeous flowers come in bloom during the spring months – daffodils, peonies, orchids, freesia… Lots of colours, sizes and textures to choose from. My personal preference for flower arrangements is picking one main colour and working around that palette – for example, choosing a daffodil as your main flower means you can have other yellows (like a yellow poppy or a daisy) as well as whites and oranges (like an orange tulip or lily of the valley). Find something fragrant (but not too fragrant) and something that will live well indoors. Make sure there is enough light where your flowers will be, too – you don’t want your arrangement to wilt sooner than it has to.

Love the style of this arrangement from HGTV

As far as I’m concerned, there is no “right way” to arrange a vase in your home. Sure there are tips and tricks and professional opinions, but so long as the flowers speak to you and they show off your home style and personality, you can’t go wrong. My personal thoughts are to have one more “out there” arrangement at a focal point in a main room (accent vase with unique mix of flowers in complementary colours) then use more neutral arrangements throughout the home in places like your bedroom, dining room and even kitchen (particularly if you have an island). Make sure to trim your flowers before placing them in the vase, and switch out the water once a week to help keep them as fresh as possible for as long as you can.

For a bit of inspiration, you can go here and here to see some awesome arrangements. Now if only the weather outside would warm up…

Ode to the Mason Jar

The mason jar in all its greatness

If you know me, this post should come as no surprise. I have a strange and unwavering love of mason jars. I don’t know what it is about them, but I just think they’re the bee’s knees (mason jars make me want to speak like a prohibition-era flapper). If you’re on Pinterest, you’ll see a lot (and I mean a LOT) of posts on the various uses for mason jars – they’ve become staples of crafty women, wedding centerpieces and summer-time al fresco dining. But I wanted to take this opportunity to share my favourite uses of the glorious mason jar and show just how versatile these simple contraptions can be.

A little background: before the mason jar was used artistically by modern women in their 20s and 30s, it was  used solely for preserving food. Invented in 1858 by  John Landis Mason (hence the name), the design was meant to help with the canning of food. It revolutionized home food preservation, and interestingly, the design has remained more or less the same for the past 150+ years. In fact, my own earliest memories of mason jars are as a container for my grandmother’s homemade jam. But gone are those days – now the mason jar can be just about anything to anyone…

1) Flowers and Plants:

Tall mason jars can act as cheap and cheerful flower vases. Simply get short-stemmed flowers and you’ve got a cute easy-to-maintain piece for your home.

Mixed bouquet in a mason jar

For an indoor springtime planter, I like the idea of painting mason jars bright colours, fill them with dirt, plant some seeds and water. You can have some gorgeous indoor plants in no time. Plus, if you’re into cooking, you can plant your own indoor herb garden so you can use fresh cilantro or rosemary or chives any time you want. The Huffington Post has this as a Craft of the Day – great inspiration.

A little paint and a little dirt goes a long way

2) Dessert:

There are so many variations of desserts you can make in mason jars! You can make individual pies or cakes for parties, or use larger mason jars to provide all the ingredients for your favourite baked good (like this for Chocolate Chunk Cookies) as a gift. There are tons of ideas on this Pinterest board, but my favourite has to be this S’mores Dessert in a Jar. S’mores + mason jars? I’m in love!

Two of my favourite things!

3) Indoor or outdoor lighting:

I’ve seen some pretty unique ways to use mason jars as decor, but my favourite has to be as a candle-holder. If you place a tea light in a mason jar and hang them up, they can provide a nice ambient light outdoors (during summer) or indoors.

Mason jars with candles light up the night

Alternately, you can buy a ready-made mason jar chandelier (like the one below) to add a unique touch to a more rustic-themed home.

Mason Jar Chandelier

4) Storage:

You can use mason jars to store just about anything tiny and easily-lost: pins and needles for sewing, buttons, screws/nuts/bolts, loose ribbon for wrapping presents…the nik-nak possibilities are endless! My favourite use case for storage, though, is in the kitchen.

Chalkboard paint on the lids can help label and organize

Storing baking/cooking supplies in mason jars can reduce clutter (not to mention spillage from flimsy packaging), and adds a uniform storage look to your kitchen. The photo above has the lids painted with chalkboard paint for easy (and erasable) labeling. Once you open a bag of nuts or chocolate chips or oats, storing them in a mason jar helps retain their freshness (these were invented for food preservation, after all!), and gives you a good way to actually see what you have and how much of it, for shopping purposes.

5) Drinking:

This one is getting a little controversial. If you’ve eaten at any west-end restaurant in Toronto lately, you will have noticed that your drinks are likely coming to you in wide-mouthed mason jars rather than the traditional cup. Much to a lot of people’s chagrin, wine is sometimes served in these jars, too!

But I will defend the practice of drinking from mason jars because 1) they are great for summer/rustic/southern/backyard BBQ themed parties or weddings and 2) you can actually buy mason jar-inspired drinking mugs (like these from Pottery Barn) that give you more of a traditional drinking experience (if that’s what you’re into).

With the straw and lemonade, how can you not picture this at a wedding or a backyard summertime BBQ?

Luckily for me, mason jars are widely available these days. So if inspiration ever strikes, Canadian Tire is the place to go for tall, short, wide-mouthed or regular mason jars. Long live the mason jar!