mason jars — Housewife's Whimsy

Cruising Pinterest always gives me a ton of ideas, way more than I could ever implement. However a couple of weeks ago I saw this amazing weathered box on Etsy (through Pinterest) and I just had to have one.Thankfully I have an extraordinarily handy husband! I showed Alex the photo and he said it would be very easy for him to make me one. I changed a couple of things in the design, like I wanted it to hold 5 Mason jars instead of 4, and I wanted it to be a dark color rather than a weathered gray.

To create the box Alex took 2x6 pine boards and cut them down to the size we wanted with a circular saw. He then took Wood glue and attached all of the pieces together.He then clamped the box together. Alex says that you need at least 8 clamps for this project in order to hold it together adequately. Leave the clamps on the box for at least 24 hours, or longer if your wood glue instructions say to. After the glue is dry remove the clamps from the box.

Sand the box to get a smooth finish on all sides. After you have sanded the surface smooth stain the box. We used Minwax- Red Oak stain that we picked up at Fleet Farm. Make sure you stain the box in a well ventilated area. There a lot of fumes that you really don’t want to be breathing in. Make sure you follow the instructions on the container for the best coverage. We left the stain on the box for approximately a minute before wiping off. If you leave the stain on longer you will get a deeper color. Likewise if you want a lighter color leave the stain on for less than a minute before wiping off.

Let the stain dry overnight, being sure to follow any instructions on your stain container. Once the box is dry you can cover with Polyurethane if you want. I chose not to since I liked the more rustic look it has. For the Mason jars I used one quart jar in the middle and four pint jars around the sides.

I’ve decided to use this box as a table decoration. I can put flowers in the large mason jar in the middle and use the smaller ones for napkins or candles depending on what I want. This would be a fantastic decoration for a coffee table or mantle though.

Handy Hubby is a feature showcasing projects designed and created by my husband Alex. All work has been done by Alex unless otherwise stated, posts and photos are by Housewife’s Whimsy.