Mason Jars Galore

I have been engaged for almost a month now and wedding planning is on my mind all the time. After looking at countless wedding blogs (my favorite is Style Me Pretty) I am finally feeling like I kind of know the general look and feel I am going for. The overall look and feel will be shabby chic- a mix of romantic pinks, country, and vintagey things. One thing I knew I wanted to incorporate was Mason jars and I let people know that they should be on the look out for them. Literally 2 days after I told Mr. Williams (Joe's dad) that he should look for them (among other things) my phone rang and he was on the other end. Apparently one of his colleagues, Garland, owned an old closed down general store in Cleveland, Tx, that was being sold in 15 days. The man said there were a ton of Mason jars in the store and we would have all of them. We made arrangements to go to the store 2 days later in the afternoon.

Joe and I took his truck to Cleveland and talked about how we had no idea what we should expect to find at the store on the way. When we pulled up to the store I think we were both a little skeptical but mostly excited to see what we would find in the store. The shop had been closed down for at least 15 years and it showed it. Anyone remember the glass Gatorade bottles? This store had some still in the coolers from when the shop closed.

Anyway Garland told us to back the truck up to the stores entry and he and Joe started loading up boxes of Mason jars on to the truck. Some of the jars were empty but lots were filled with a variety of canned yummys (at least I am sure they were yummy at one time). We completely filled the bed of the truck with boxes with a few exceptions- I found a couple other goodies Garland said we could find that took up a little space on the truck. It was pretty unbelievable, I wish I would have taken a picture of the truck.

When we got back to my house, Joe and his dad unloaded the boxes into the garage.

This is where my work began. The jars that had already been used for canning needed to be emptied, scrubbed, put in the dishwasher, examined for being totally cleaned, and either stacked up or hand washed again, put in the dishwasher again, examined again, and if ok, stacked up. If not, they go through the recleaning process a third time.

My cleaning set up.

Tools of the trade - a blue bottle gripper, flat head screw driver (for prying up the lids), spoon (for scooping out the canned stuff), and a brush for the initial cleaning.

In the dishwasher.

These need a second cleaning.

The 100% clean glasses are lined up nicely in my living room. Once all the glasses are cleaned I will take a total count of all the different types of glasses then they will be stored away in Tupperware containers until we get closer to the big day.

Lined up and ready to go!

Needless to say, it is a long, time consuming process but I am not at all complaining. It is a wonderful blessing to have people ready and willing to help us get ready for the wedding. Throughout our relationship, Joe and I have been blessed, in countless ways big and small - and surprising like being given hundreds of Mason jars. Each of these blessing are reminders that God will take care of and provide for his children even when we do not realize either our needs the possibilities. For example, I never would have thought I should outright ask God to help me find Mason jars BUT I have asked for Gods help and blessing as we plan our wedding and wala hundreds of Mason jars are provided.

So the next thing I am looking for are crystal (real or faux) prisms like those used in chandeliers. They need to have a hole at the top so that they can be strung. If you know where I can get some let me know!

PS- I still need more Mason jars too!