I was privy to a conversation the other day about how stressful hosting your family for Christmas can be. And it really can be.

But when Pinterest was born, planning a big Christmas meal became SO much easier!

I’ve been experimenting with different table decorations for our large Christmas meal this year. We’ll have a total of three dinners, but only one will be big, with 20-30 people. So I like to start planning early.

I’ve always loved the look of the painted mason jars on Pinterest, so I thought I’d try my hand at it. I went with Christmas colours of course, but you could use this painting technique to with bright cheerful colours for Easter, or earthy tones for the fall.

Here’s how to make a few for yourself:

DIY Painted Mason Jars

Supplies:

repurposed Mason jars (or any other brand) of various sizes – free
at least two colours of craft paint (I used dark red and gold) – $1.25 each
pine branches or something else to display in the jars – free
two paintbrushes

Instructions:

Paint each jar with two coats of the colour that will be your base colour, letting dry between coats.
Pick up a little of your second colour in a completely dry brush. Wipe the excess off on the side of your paint dish, and then dab the brush on a paper towel or rag several times. The idea is to have as little on your brush as possible.
Then, dry brush the jars. With broad, linear strokes, brush the paint over the base coat, focusing on the bumbs and indents to emphasize the words and logo.
Let dry, and then fill with pine branches.