More blue mason jars released

When Ball first came out with the pint blue throwback mason jars I thought it would be cool to have the quart and the wide mouth versions too. They went on to release the green and purple jars next though. The purple and green had both pint and quart and I often wondered why there weren't quart jars in blue.

I guess I just had to wait a little longer because this year they have released the small mouth half pint, wide mouth pint and wide mouth quart jars in blue!

The half pints are so cute for canning jelly. And I have to have the wide mouth pint jars for drinks! Oh and the wide mouth quart jars for storing things and decoration.

They have me right where they want me.

Jar Lids & Straws

If you are a fan of jars then you can appreciate "jar accessories". Like these Ball Mason Jar Sip & Straw Lids.

They are great for hyrdating with fruit infused water like this jar filled with mint and pineapple.

The extra large straws work really well with smoothies too.

I especially like the colors they come in so I can coordinate with my different colored mason jars.

Taco Salad jars

Tuesday is Taco Tuesday in our cafeteria at work. Smelling tacos through the office inspired me to make taco salads for dinner last night. There were lots of leftovers so I put the ingredients into jars for a taco salad lunch! I was ready to dig into by 10 am.

PS - adding some Doritos to the tortilla chips is evil-delicious!

Valentine's goodies: Purple Mason Jars

Valentine's Day brought a giant heart balloon, flowers, chocolate and a pug card.

But here is how I know Aaron really knows me. For Valentine's Day he got me the new purple Limited Edition Ball Heritage Collection Jars. Pint and quart!

They say purple is the last in the series. I'm kinda bummed about that. In the past Mason jars have been made in the colors Aqua, Amber, Dark Amber, Emerald, Milk Glass, Cobalt, and Black. Purple jars are actually the result of clear jars with manganese in the glass that have been exposed to sunlight, or sometimes artificially turned purple through irradiation. I think they could still do "throwback" jars in amber and cobalt. Milk glass and black would be very cool also!

Manicure Jars

I wanted to make something special for my peeps for Valentine's Day. First I glass etched everyone's intitials onto glass jars. Then I filled each one with nail pollish and other manicure items. Manicure jars! Cute and handy!

Green mason jars

Hold onto your hats. If you thought the blue throwback mason jars Ball released last year were cool, you will love the green ones they are coming out with this spring!

They come in quart size...

... and pint size.

I may or may not have already pre-ordered! Heeeeee!

Jar snuggies

I've come to the realization that I am a faster crocheter than a knitter. I've been making jar cozies for my coffee+jar+cuppow set up.

They are so fast and easy to make, I've been crocheting them for jars with different shapes and sizes.

Jar snuggies make morning coffee a little extra... cozy.

Christmas gifts: Etched glass jars

A few months ago, Aaron got me a Martha Stewart glass etching kit. I finally got it out and etched a few jars. It's so easy and works so well! I decided to make my peeps glass jars with their names on them for Christmas gifts.

Even better than using the stencils was creating my own using my Cricut and vinyl adhesive.

Each jar got peppermint candy sticks and a cute lid with handle. Now I want to etch everything!!!

Etched Christmas Jars

Aaron got me a glass etching kit ages ago. It makes total sense seeing how much I love glass jars. I don't know why it took me so long to break it out. I experimented with these small mason jars and it is so easy and doesn't take as long as I thought it would.

I love the results. I have so many ideas now! I want more stencils for more designs and to work faster. The alphabet I have only has one of each letter, so it takes two rounds of etching to create the word "CHEER" to get both "E's".

I am also going to experiment with creating stencils with my Cricut and vinyl adhesive. So many ideas!

Funny thing - I tried to etch a glass chimney and it didn't even leave the tiniest mark. Thought I did something wrong and tried it again. Then my dad pointed out that the glass was probably tempered for heat (candles) and would be impervious to the etching compound. Ahhhh!

These jars and more will be for sale at the South Wedge Holiday Bazaar on Saturday.

Half Gallon Jars

The jar situation continues. I did a little dance in Wegmans when I found these Half Gallon Jars. I have one that my Grandma gave me years ago and I didn't even realize they still made them. Aaron looks really excited but really he is just happy about how excited I am. Jars don't typically make him this smiley.

Scary thing is, it looks like a regular quart jar in Aaron's hand. He said something along the lines of "Fill this baby up, slap a Cuppow on it, and I'm good to go!"

These are the perfect size for making iced tea and cold brew coffee. I was using gallon jars but they were a bear to wrestle in and out of the fridge.

A pack of these wide mouth plastic lids and I was all set.

The big birthday

After a week of watching Aaron sneak around he surprised me today with a birthday party! Well, not a complete surprise. We have had one of those and one is enough to last a lifetime . As I told Aaron, no more pop-out-of-a-closet surprise parties for this gal.

It was so good to see everyone! There were all my favorite people, food (charcuterie) and a JAR theme!

Jars of lemonade.

Mason jar goodie bags to fill with candy.

Mason jar table arrangements! There were 120 carnations!

I had a helper crew helping open my gifties!

And cake! I love birthday cake!

It was a delicious and pretty cake from Baker Street Bakery.

Thank you Aaron for a wonderful birthday!

Old and new blue Mason jars

I have collection of vintage blue Mason jars. Some of them have the original zinc lids. My mom and my grandma gave me most of these.

When my new blue vintage style jars came I didn't have plans for them except one.

I get a lot of comments that when I juice spinach or kale about how gross the color is. I thought using a blue jar for the green juices might help a little. Well, maybe not. The blue jars do look nice with my blue cuppow lid.

Yogurt parfait jars

My new thing is making yogurt parfaits in a jar to take to work for breakfast. I layer frozen strawberries with Greek yogurt mixed with honey and then top it off with granola.

The one on the left also has pineapple. The one on the right I mashed up the strawberry. I use all Wegmans brand ingredients... frozen berries, Greek vanilla yogurt and their vanilla granola.

I am looking forward to fruit season so we can have fresh fruit in our jar parfaits!

Blue Mason Jars & Our Long History

Ball has created an American Heritage Collection of limited edition blue jars to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the "Perfect Mason" jar by the Ball brothers.

I have a few of the original vintage blue jars, but I am pretty careful with them. I don't use them for much. Of course I had to order a box of these new ones so I can actually use them.

I may need a second box.

I had to laugh when I saw this in the Huffington Post - "10 Ridiculous 'Uses' For Mason Jars". I actually liked a few of the ideas like the beta tank/shelf and the speakers. Guilty! Proudly so!

Some may say that "the Mason Jar trend is so over" but I will not let that bother me. I was a fan of Mason Jars way before they were trendy. Check this out.

This picture of two of my vintage blue jars is from January 2008. My grandma showed me how to do this.

Mason Jars and I go way back and we are in it together for the long haul.

Juice and jars

The juicing is still going strong. A variety of mixes with a variety of jars. Monster green juice in a small jelly jar.

Carrot andhttp://blog.ljcfyi.com/images/2013/feb2013/ mango in a standard pint mason jar.

I love this jar... my grandma gave it too me. I like the star. Inside it is apple, beet, grape, cucumber juice.

Wide mouth jar with latte.

And my currently a tall quilted jelly jar.

2013 = jars

Look. Even Wegmans is jumping on the mason jar bandwagon.

Aaron spotted these "mason jar" mugs with handles on clearance. Score!

I can't get over these mason jar goblets! Available on Etsy.

2011 was the year of chalkboard paint. 2012 was glitter. 2013... jars!

Holiday Cookie Party & Affogatos

This evening we had our Christmas Cookies & Cocktails party. I spent the day cleaning, making cookie dough and making these treat bags for friends to take cookies home in.

I had an assembly line going with three kinds of cookies.... peanut butter, chocolate chip and my special lumberjack cookies.

We had a wonderful variety of cookies!

I liked watching people pack their cookie bags... hey wait a minute Tina!

I also got to make something I have been meaning to try... affogatos. It's basically espresso poured over ice cream.

It's especially good if you use Pittsford Farms Dairy ice cream and serve it in jelly jars!