Hello, Goodwill® blog readers!
This week many of us here at Goodwill Industries International, as well as plenty of members from across the U.S. and Canada, were lucky enough to participate in the Goodwill Summer Conference held in Miami Beach, FL! On top of all of the amazing networking and learning opportunities that the conference provided, it also gave some of us bloggers a chance to get to know one another in person and to host an event showcasing each of our individual interests! We couldn’t keep the good stuff to ourselves, so I’ve decided to share with you the six projects that I completed using mason jars for our session.
I’ve often marveled at the amount of glass jars that line my Goodwill’s shelves and wondered what could be done to help find these beauties a place in my home. The ideas that I tried are: book ends (fill them with buttons, sea glass, sand, or whatever you have lying around!), a lotion jar, a mini-chandelier, painted organizers, a photo display and a pincushion, but you’ll be able to find even more ideas on our DIY pinboard, too! These were a hit with the audience of our conference session, and I’m hoping you’ll love them just as much.
While in Miami, a group of us took a trip to the Goodwill Superstore in Little Havana and I was blown away with the space! It was so completely different from the stores that I’m used to, and it really made me realize that no two Goodwills are the same. Each branch reflects the particular interests and personalities of the people who donate and shop there (as my fellow blogger, Jenna, can tell you!), and they each also help to support different Goodwill initiatives according to what that community needs most. Thanks to the hard work from donors, shoppers and Goodwill employees alike, every 38 seconds of every business day a person served by Goodwill earns a good job. That’s making a difference!
Each of these mason jar projects took under 15 minutes to complete, and can be tackled with any skill level. The quickest and easiest are the book ends and photo display, where I simply popped certain items into the jars and placed them into my current decor. The pincushion was super simple, too, accomplished by replacing the metal lid with a piece of scrap fabric. You can stash other sewing items, like spools of thread or needles, inside the pincushion jar, too!
And, of course, no project idea post would be complete without a DIY tutorial (or two!) so here’s a link to the lotion jar dispenser tutorial that I posted last winter on my personal blog, and following is the step-by-step that we went through this week with our audience to make the painted jars that I use as bathroom organizers!
Thanks so much for stopping by for ideas on how to repurpose glass jars that you can find at your local Goodwill retail store. Happy thrifting!
What ideas do you have for upcycling jars?
xx, Julia
