blue ball jars | The Little GSP

It’s time for another wedding-related post and this week I’d like to share some photos of the gorgeous flower arrangements that our florist, Toni Ogborn, put together for our wedding a few months ago. Aren’t the pinks, oranges, greens and succulents beautiful together?

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may remember that back in April I posted about painting my own blue mason jars for our wedding. That’s one of my jars in the photo above… it looks pretty real, right? 🙂 If you take a look at that older post you’ll also see my wedding flower inspiration photo. I knew that I wanted my wedding flowers to look just like the bouquet in that photo so I gave a copy of the photo to Toni and asked her to make something similar. I think she did a perfect job!!

I liked my bouquet so much that I brought it home the day after the wedding and used it as the centerpiece on our kitchen table until we left for our honeymoon. Here’s a closer look at the flowers and colors in my bouquet:

My bridesmaids each had bouquets that were wrapped in blue ribbon to match their dresses. I love how bright and bold the flowers were!

Our reception was in a barn so we opted for long tables with burlap runners and lots of small floral arrangements in blue mason jars and quilted jelly jars. These arrangements were simpler, more rustic versions of our bouquets and featured soft garden roses, crazy snap dragons, peach-colored roses and hot pink dahlias.

If you’re getting married in the western Philadelphia suburbs and you are interested in talking to Toni Ogborn about doing your wedding flowers please feel free to send me an e-mail at anne.elizabeth.mcmanus (at) gmail.com and I will be happy to put you in touch with her. I loved the flowers that Toni put together for my wedding and I highly recommend her work! 🙂

Please note: All photos in the post with the exception of the “closer look” at my bouquet were taken by Melissa Hassey of Melissa Hassey Photography. The closer look photo was taken by me with my iPhone the morning after the wedding.

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!

Update: Interested to see how my DIY blue mason jars and flowers turned out at my wedding?
Visit my Wedding Flowers post to see them!

That’s one of my bridesmaids’ bouquets in a
“vintage” painted blue jar on the right! —>

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:

How to make your own ‘Vintage’ blue Ball jars

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:

Try practicing on some empty sauce jars first before painting your “real” jars. This will help you get a feel for the painting technique.
If you mess up while painting a jar, immediately run it under hot water. The paint will rub off and then you can dry the jar and try again!
If you are reusing jars, make sure to clean the outside of the jar very well. If the jar has any residue on it the paint will get gummy. I update this post on 4/30/13 to add in the first step where you wipe the jars with rubbing alcohol. I’ve been doing this with my latest batches of brand new jars and I think it helps.
I’ve read other blogs that say it is critical to allow the painted jars to cure for 24 hours before baking. I am impatient and I always immediately bake the jars when I’m done painting. I haven’t noticed any issues so I’ll continue to bake immediately!
As I mentioned above, don’t stress about making the jars look perfect. It’s just not going to happen and you can drive yourself crazy. Once you bake the jar and fill it with water and pretty flowers no one is going to notice that streak or smudge!