Just a quick update to say WE DID IT!! Matt and I got married on Saturday afternoon surrounded by our family and friends. The sun was shining, the wine was flowing, and fun was had by all. Here’s a sneak peek from our lovely wedding photographer, Melissa Hassey:
Now it’s time for our honeymoon in St. Lucia… woohoo! 
I don’t think of myself as a very crafty person but I’ve decided to take on some DIY projects for our wedding. I’m really happy with how my first project is turning out so I thought I would post a little how-to tutorial on my blog!
Several months ago I found a beautiful photo on Ella Bella Floral’s web site. I immediately knew that it was exactly what I wanted my wedding flowers to look like, right down to the aqua ribbon and vintage blue Ball mason jar. I started researching jars and was shocked to see that these special blue jars cost $10-15 each! There was no way I could justify spending $15 for a jar so I decided to take a do-it-yourself approach instead.
After a quick google search, I discovered that luckily I am not the first person to want to make my own vintage blue jars. I consulted several blogs but by far found this post from My Greenbrae Cottage to be the most helpful. From that post I learned what type of paint to use and also that wiping the paint onto the jars with a cloth works far better than a paintbrush.
After painting 25+ jars (with 18 or so more to go…) I tweaked the process a little and ended up with the following process:
You will need…
Rubbing Alcohol
Pebeo Vitrea 160 Turquoise Glass Paint
Pebeo Vitrea 160 Thinner / Dilutant
Small bowl to mix the paint in
Soft cloth to apply the paint (I used a 6″ x 6″ piece of cut up T-shirt)
Several Mason Jars, thoroughly cleaned and all label residue removed
Foil-lined baking sheet
Nitrile or other type of Gloves (optional)
Directions:
To prepare for painting, line a counter top with a towel and/or foil to protect from any spills. Remove the lids from your mason jars and set aside. Don your gloves (if using), and use a paper towel to wipe down the outside of each jar with rubbing alcohol. This will remove any residue or dust and help the paint stick better.
Mix together 1 part of the glass paint with 5 parts thinner in a small bowl. Dip a corner of the cloth in the paint mixture and start painting the outside of your first jar, beginning at the top around the threads. Move the cloth in the direction of the threads until they are evenly coated.
Next, paint the sides of the jar with a liberal amount of paint, moving the cloth only in up and down motions (from the top of the jar to the bottom; never side-to-side). Coat the jar sides and bottom completely, then reposition your cloth so that a side that doesn’t have much paint on it is facing the jar. Quickly rub the cloth up and down over the sides of the jar to remove the excess paint, leaving just a thin film of blue paint. Don’t stress too much about getting this part perfect (it’s never going to be streak-free!) because luckily the baking step will reduce some of the streaks for you. Place the jar upside down on the baking sheet.
Paint your other jars, then carefully insert the baking sheet into a preheated 350° oven and bake for 45 minutes. Allow the jars to cool completely before handling.
Some Helpful Tips:
Hello! She Cleans from Immaculate Conceptions just nominated me for a Liebster Award. Thank you very much for the nomination! The Liebster Award is given from one blogger to another (11 others, to be precise) and comes along with some fun rules. Without any further ado, here we go…
The Rules:
11 Facts About Me:
11 Answers to the Questions from Immaculate Conceptions:
11 Questions for my Nominees:
8 Nominees:
I know I’m supposed to nominate 11 bloggers but the caveat that they have less than 200 followers is limiting me from listing a few of my favorites! (Oh and I have no idea how many followers my nominees from Blogger have so sorry if I’m incorrectly assuming that you have less than 200!!) 
Thank you again for the nomination, Immaculate Conceptions!
This morning I completed day 100 of my mile-a-day “streaking” challenge, woohoo! The challenge started out back on Thanksgiving Day as part of the Runners World Holiday Running Streak (#RWStreak) from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, but when 2013 rolled around I just kept on going!
On a typical weekday I wake up at 5:15 and elliptical my mile while watching the morning news. The downside of this is that the news is pretty boring (how many traffic reports can one person watch??) and yes, it’s early, but after I’m done I feel great all day knowing that I’ve finished my mile. I also like having a routine, even if it means that I now have to pack my running clothes on vacations or business trips.
Here are a few of my more memorable miles over the past 100 days:
Day 13 (12/4/12)
I ‘ellipticalled’ a mile in the morning and then we went on a 5 mile hike in Ridley Creek State Park the afternoon! That was a big day for exercise.
Day 41 (01/01/13)
Matt, Bailey and I ran the first 2.4 miles of the multi-purpose loop at Ridley Creek State Park. Not bad for New Year’s Day!
Day 52 (01/12/13)
We ran a mile on a chilly morning in Thornbury Township Park. For some reason this felt much harder than the 2.4 miles on 1/1. (The Thornbury Park Photo is actually from September. I wish it had been that beautiful there in January!)
Days 54-59 (01/14-19/13)
Completed a week of miles on a treadmill in the Palazzo gym in Las Vegas. I was nervous at first because I usually elliptical in the privacy of my own home but I felt a huge sense of accomplishment afterwards! (And I think I managed to look tough and strong while running which is really half the battle, right?) 
Days 94-95 (02/23-24/13)
Ran around Cape Charles on the eastern shore of Virginia while we were in town with friends for the Barrier Island Center Oyster Roast. On day 94 my iPhone app got confused and said that I ran 1.7 miles in 13 minutes (which is impossible) but I let myself believe that was true when I enjoyed all-you-can-eat oysters, clams, BBQ pulled pork and wine later in the day.
I look forward to keeping my streak going until Matt and I get married on June 8th. Wish me luck!
OK, I know that I skipped last week’s “Resolved” photo challenge, but, photo or no photo, I am proud to share that I am going strong on Day 53 of my “Streaking” resolution. “Streaking” was my December challenge to run/elliptical at least a mile a day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s but when January 1st came around I decided to keep the streak going until June 8, 2013 (which happens to be our wedding day). We actually kicked off 2013 with a 2.4 mile RUN — the farthest I’ve run since college — but that’s a story for a different post.
This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge is Illumination:
Illumination is a topic near and dear to me because Matt and I actually manufacture and sell these lights for a living!
Also related to the week’s challenge topic is the city that we’re traveling to this week:
Nope, not Paris… we’re going to Vegas! We go once a year for a big trade show so we’ll be working hard but I’m pretty sure that we’ll be able to find time to eat plenty of yummy food and take lots of photos. Have a good week everyone!
This is the last installation of my 25 Days of Christmas challenge! The last four topics are cookies, sparkle, Christmas eve, and unwrapped:
Day 22 – Cookies – Matt’s mom bakes a huge assortment of sugar and gingerbread cookies and his family gathers before Christmas to frost and decorate them. Matt frosted this ornament cookie.
Day 23 – Sparkle – One of our sparkly snowflake ornaments.
Day 24 – Christmas Eve – We had our parents over for Christmas Eve dinner last night. We made bruschetta and Giada’s Penne with Shrimp in Herbed Cream Sauce… yum!
Day 25 – Unwrapped – I’m cheating and using two photos for this final topic… The top photo shows pile of unwrapped wrapping paper on Matt’s new step stool and the bottom photo shows Bailey with her freshly-unwrapped bone!
Would you like to see more 25 Days of Christmas fun? Visti Pa-BLAM to see Pami’s days 22-25 post and visit Katie at Kitchen Notes and Other Sundries to see her challenge photos.
Related Posts:
This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is surprise:
Just for fun, feel free to leave a caption for this photo in the comments section. I think Bailey is thinking “Whoa! That rock is alive!”
This week’s 25 Days of Christmas topics are warmth, ornaments, wreath, giving, reindeer, memories, and bells:
Day 15 – Warmth – Our wonderful, warm, easy-to-use propane stove!
Day 16 – Ornaments – Our tree doesn’t have a specific theme, but I’ve noticed that we seem to gravitate towards animal ornaments and apparently we have a thing for squirrels! Next year we really need to get a black squirrel ornament.
Day 17 – Wreath – We have a double front door which means that we need these double wreathes!
Day 18 – Giving – These chocolate-dipped coconut stick cookies are all packed up and ready to give to friends and family. I’ll post the recipe soon!
Day 19 – Reindeer – This reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh was always one of my favorite Christmas decorations growing up.
Day 20 – Memories – My dad passed away in 2005 but I fondly remember him always sitting in this chair on Christmas morning while we opened presents. We’d have to wait for what seemed like hours until we were allowed to come downstairs and see what Santa had brought for us!
Day 21 – Bells – This ornate bell is part of an indoor display at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. Longwood is a great place to visit at Christmas time!
Would you like to see more 25 Days of Christmas fun? Visit Pami at Pa-BLAM and Katie at Kitchen Notes and Other Sundries to see their photos!
Related Posts:
This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “delicate.” When I saw this topic get posted last Friday I immediately started searching through my Flickr photo collection to find a suitable image. Unfortunately I quickly realized that a vast majority of my photos are of Bailey, food, and landscapes… not exactly subjects that evoke delicacy! I did however find these three photos of Bailey looking rather gentle:
Pretty delicate, wouldn’t you say? Thanks for stopping by!
It’s time for another installation of my 25 Days of Christmas challenge!
Day 8 – Tree – This was an easy one because I love our tree this year! As usual, we picked it out at Linvilla Orchards the Sunday after Thanksgiving. You’ll get to see some of the ornaments on Day 16…
Day 9 – Treats – OK, not a Christmas photo per se, but to me this photo screams “treat.” We taught Bailey this trick a few years ago but juding by the look on her face I don’t think that she likes it very much!
Day 10 – Joy – This photo is from Christmas morning last year. It was our first Christmas in our new house and Bailey was having fun trying to lick our faces mid-photo.
Day 11 – Carols – This is my mom’s piano with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” ready to be played by someone (not me!). I spent countless hours of my childhood sitting in front of this piano. Now I’m glad just to photograph it and move on!
Day 12 – Vintage – I don’t know what year this Santa is from, but he’s been around since as long as I can remember so that makes him vintage as far as I’m concerned!
Day 13 – Festive – A nice holiday beverage with an orange peel “twist.” We made these last year for New Year’s Eve.
Day 14 – Glitter – These glittery candles belonged to my wonderful grandma, “Mimi Betty.” Mimi passed away a few years ago but my mom and I each have several of her Christmas decorations and I often think about her at this time of year. Mimi was fond of – no, obsessed with! – the color gold and had dozens of glittery ornaments and candles including these lovely Christmas trees.
Would you like to see more 25 Days of Christmas fun? Visit Pami at Pa-BLAM and Katie at Kitchen Notes and Other Sundries to see their photos!
