Register or log in —

Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Mrs. Cherry Pie
more by Mrs. Cherry Pie (oldest)
Older blog post by Mrs. Cherry Pie
Mrs. Cherry Pie's Picture
Miss Cherry Pie, Seattle/Polebridge, Montana Age and Occupation: 25, Marketing Communications Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Nurse Practitioner Engagement Date: August 26, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2008 Blogging Since: April 1, 2008 Venue: A tiny town just outside of Glacier National Park About Me: I think of life as a journey and I love the places it's taking me! I went to school to study Magazine Journalism, ended up with a second major in Japanese language, and now work at a company that makes software for libraries. I love writing, computers, photography, and the great outdoors. I spend most of my time playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band or geeking out online with Mr. Cherry Pie. I'm happiest when I'm on the road, especially traveling abroad, or just nesting quietly at home with my sweetie, who is a fabulous cook and bakes a delicious rendition of a certain cherry-filled dessert!
About Mrs. Cherry Pie

DIY Hanging Jars

August 20th, 2008 @ 11:29 am by Mrs. Cherry Pie

Some of you asked me how to make the raffia’d jars we’re using in combination with our shepherd’s hooks for hanging candles and flowers. Well, here’s a little DIY instructional!

Step One
First, you choose your weapons. In this case raffia and jars… any size jar will work, really, as long as you have sufficient strength in your shepherd’s hooks and use enough raffia. In this case, I am using a 12-oz Ball jar from Wal-Mart.

Cut a piece of raffia long enough to wrap twice around your jar and leave you a handle of your preferred length. Then add a few inches for bonus. You will have to experiment with length a few times to see what works for you - appropriate length will depend on how wide the mouth of your jar is, how long you want your handle to be, and if you want to knot the handle in the middle.

Step Two
Wrap the raffia once around the jar, secured either in the grooves of the threads or beneath the lip. Tie tightly in a knot and leave a small end.

Step Three
Loop the long end of the raffia across the mouth of the jar and insert it under the raffia that is tied around the jar. This will be your handle, so adjust the length of the loop to be as long as you need it. Then, position the long end of the string (the one that’s underneath the bottom layer) exactly opposite your first knot and tie it in a knot.

Step Four (optional)
If you’ve made your raffia long enough to go around the jar two or more times (either for look or extra security), wrap it tightly around the jar and tie off the end on one of your original knots - using the second knot works better because you can then trim the end to match your first end, or trim both ends off.

Step Five
Repeat steps 1-4 to make a bajillion jars! Yes, using this method on larger jars will work just fine. I tested it with some big ones but to be extra safe, I doubled the handle back twice. My raffia ribbon is pretty strong, but test yours first to be sure.

Enjoy!

Tags: , , |   Link for this post | Share this post: DIY Hanging Jars      
Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Mrs. Cherry Pie
more by Mrs. Cherry Pie (oldest)
Older blog post by Mrs. Cherry Pie
advertisement below

15 Responses to “DIY Hanging Jars”

1.
Guest Icon
Guest
Kenzie

Have you tried these with candles burning in them?

I’d worry about the rafia starting on fire and dropping flaming, broken glass on the table.

I may have seen something like that happen at a past wedding :)

 
2.
Guest Icon
Guest
Candice

With a tealight you shouldn’t have any problems. Always good to do a “trial run” first!

 
3.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Cherry Pie (message)  688 posts, Busy bee

@Kenzie: Yes, we tested with tealights to see if the heat would catch the raffia on fire — it’s definitely far enough away that it barely even gets hot! :)
In our test, we also stretched the raffia across the mouth of the jar and weighted it to see if it would catch fire, and we couldn’t get it to.

 
4.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Shortcake (message)  446 posts, Helper bee

@Kenzie: ooh, that’s a scary thought. Rafia does burn rather easily… I would put the flowers in the glass jars on the tables, then use tin cans with candles in them for night time. You can spray the outside with “rust” looking paint, and drill holes. If you wanted to hang the tin cans, drill two holes, and put a omega-shaped pieces of sturdy wire through the holes to serve as a handle.

 
5.
Member Icon
Member
Valerie (message)  134 posts, Blushing bee

where did you get shepherd’s hooks and how much do they usually go for?

 
6.
Member Icon
Member
Valerie (message)  134 posts, Blushing bee

Also, I noticed that a lot of jarred pasta sauces use those types of jars so if you are a pasta lover, save those jars!!!! I run them through the dishwasher to clean them.

 
7.
Member Icon
Member
karissa17 (message)  29 posts, Newbee

i love it! im debating between mason jars and galvanized pails for my shepherd’s hooks. what kind of flowers are you using?

valerie - i found some at (http://www.craft-supplies-online.com/productdetail.asp?item_nbr=340-24-8186) for a pretty good price if you want something simple. these (http://www.save-on-crafts.com/garden.html) are prettier but pricier.

 
8.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Cherry Pie (message)  688 posts, Busy bee

@Valerie: I got mine in Seattle at Capers Home & Garden for about $3.50 apiece. They can go for pretty cheap some places online, but shipping can be expensive for a bunch of metal!

@karissa17: I’m using dahlias! :D

 
9.
Guest Icon
Guest
Cheap Find: Lanterns & Shepherds Hooks » Weddingbee » The Wedding Blog

[...] a great DIY by the amazing Mrs. Cherry Pie. She went with mason jars, which I love!!! See it here: Mrs. Cherry’s Pie DIY mason jars for shepherds hooks. See her finished product here: Mrs. Cherry Pie’s kick butt shepherds [...]

 
10.
Guest Icon
Guest
Married in Montana: All in the Details (Part 2 of 2) » Weddingbee » The Wedding Blog

[...] Walmart) and rigged them up with raffia twine. Check out my previous posts to see my mock-ups and detailed instructions. I ended up rigging forty jars – twenty for the flowers, which were used elsewhere for decoration [...]

 
11.
Guest Icon
Guest
A Makeover » Weddingbee » The Wedding Blog

[...] (and as of now, ceremony site decor is not in there) and as much as I love Mrs. Cherry Pie’s DIY jar lanterns I just can’t bring myself to buy one more thing (like Shepard’s [...]

 
12.
Guest Icon
Guest
angela

Make fireproof lanterns - use the small blue tinted ball canning jars (buy at any antique store super cheap)m. Use a metal hose clamp around the top of the jar; attach wire to the hose clamp for a handle (before tightening) the hose clamp. Need to use the bigger votives otherwise they will burn out too quickly. Hang from small shephards hooks.

 
13.
marci_607
Member
marci_607 (message)  69 posts, Worker bee

I am having trouble…the loop around then neck keeps slipping off when I put flowers in and I can’t get it tight enough!

 
14.
Guest Icon
Guest
angela

Try buying metal hose clamps from the hardware store. It sounds silly, but it works. Make a handle oiut of wire to attach to the hose clamp. Put the hose clamp around the neck of the jar then tighten (you will need to use a scrw driver to tighten). The hose clamps are ugly but you can cover them by tying ribbon or fabric around the neck of the over the hose clamp. I have ton of them on three foot shepard hooks all over my walkway, and they’ve withstood 30 mph winds, so it’ll definately work.

 
15.
Guest Icon
Guest
angela

Try buying metal hose clamps from the hardware store. It sounds silly, but it works. Make a handle oiut of wire to attach to the hose clamp. Put the hose clamp around the neck of the jar then tighten (you will need to use a scrw driver to tighten). The hose clamps are ugly but you can cover them by tying ribbon or fabric around the neck of the over the hose clamp. I have ton of them on three foot shepard hooks all over my walkway, and they’ve withstood 30 mph winds, so it’ll definately work.
@marci_607:

 


You can also just...

Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Mrs. Cherry Pie
more by Mrs. Cherry Pie (oldest)
Older blog post by Mrs. Cherry Pie
Visit our sister sites Project Wedding
Wedding Songs
eHarmony Advice
Dating Advice
JustMommies
Pregnancy Calendar
Fertile Thoughts
Infertility Support
Copyright 2004-2009, eHarmony, Inc., Advertise
 


Sponsors
Mrs. Cherry Pie
Mrs. Cherry Pie Miss Cherry Pie, Seattle/Polebridge, Montana Age and Occupation: 25, Marketing Communications Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Nurse Practitioner Engagement Date: August 26, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2008 Blogging Since: April 1, 2008 Venue: A tiny town just outside of Glacier National Park About Me: I think of life as a journey and I love the places it's taking me! I went to school to study Magazine Journalism, ended up with a second major in Japanese language, and now work at a company that makes software for libraries. I love writing, computers, photography, and the great outdoors. I spend most of my time playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band or geeking out online with Mr. Cherry Pie. I'm happiest when I'm on the road, especially traveling abroad, or just nesting quietly at home with my sweetie, who is a fabulous cook and bakes a delicious rendition of a certain cherry-filled dessert!
Weddingbee PRO
 
Boards
 
Classifieds
 

Blog Calendar
November 2009
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930

Weddingbee Bios
Wiki
More