DIY décor can come from anywhere. You just have to open your eyes and have a bit of imagination. This wall décor/organizer was made from 4 pasta sauce jars and a broken dresser drawer. Yes I said a broken dresser drawer.
I had decided to get rid of an old dresser I had in the garage. Not only did it have a broken drawer, but it was taking up ample work space. You see, I am slowly turning my garage into my workshop and this dresser just did not fit into my plans. Well not into my workshop plans at least! As soon as we had put it on the curbside, I started bringing parts of it back into the garage, the drawers that is. The dresser had 3 drawers that were in decent condition and I knew I could put them to use in a great way. So I brought them in first. Then I stood there looking at the dresser fighting with myself. I wanted to bring the whole frame back in and redo it. You see, the thing I loved about the dresser is that it was real wood, real solid wood. When I go garbage digging that is the first thing I look for, real wood. Its like finding gold. Everything is made from particle board or plastic now in days. And in my opinion, those things just don’t hold up like real wood. So I wanted to salvage as much of the real wood that I could. But with the struggle of the lack of room in the garage from the pile of things I have already collected to redo and the “LOOK” from my family….you know the look….the “why are you bringing this piece of garbage back into the garage, lady…. you are truly insane” look! I decided to meet myself half way and bring in just the broken drawer. (I think I truly am insane! LOL But I’m ok with that!)
After a few weeks of the broken dresser drawer sitting in my workshop, I finally decided what to do with it. I had made fettucine alfredo that night and as I was rinsing the jars to put them in the recycle bin, it hit me. I absolutely love the way they look. There are the words Atlas Mason stamped on two sides of the jars, and the other two sides have measuring amounts of 4 and 8oz stamped in. Not only did I love them but I wanted to use them in one of pieces. As the gears turned in my head and the ideas whirled around in my brain, I started seeing my creation come to life. I knew what I wanted to do, a mason jar wall décor/organizer. I have seen these made before and always wanted to try it. Now I get to make it on the super cheap. And when I say super cheap, I’m talking a measly $4. The only part I had to actually purchase where the metal clamps, which where .99 cents a piece. And if you really wanted to you could substitute those with thick strong string or gauge wire that you might have lying around the house.
Let me show you how I put this together. I started by tearing apart the broken drawer to get off just the drawer front. That was the pure gold I needed. Once I had that detached I removed the drawer handle. There were 4 little holes left from the screws for the handles. I filled them with wood filler and used my putty knife to scrape any extra off, so there would be a smooth finish. I did this twice making sure to let it dry completely before the second application. Next, I sanded the whole thing down. I started with a lower grit sand paper and worked my way up to a 220 grit. When I was finished sanding it, I wiped it clean with a microfiber cloth, to get all of the sanding dust off. Then I painted it with a primer. After allowing ample amount of time for the primer to dry, I painted it with the color of my choice. I decided to go with a chalkboard grey paint, that I already had on hand. Not only did I decide on the grey because I absolutely love using grey in my projects, but I also picked it because it saved me the money from having to buy paint. You can certainly use the paint and color of your choosing. I put two coats of paint on this project, making sure to allow sufficient drying time in between the coats. I also made sure to do front and back. I know the back will be faced toward the wall, but it just makes the piece feel more professional and polished. Once the drawer front had plenty of time to dry I gave it a quick sanding, just to distress it a bit. Then, I finished it off with a paste finishing wax to polish and protect the finish. I decided to go with a wax since this piece will be hung on a wall and not moved or roughly used.
On to the jars. To get them prepared for the project I had to remove the labeling. This was pretty simple. I let them soak in some water for a bit. Then I pulled them out and pealed off as much of the labeling as I could. Most of it came off with no problem. I used goof off on the portions that I could not get off and it worked like a charm. One more quick cleaning and drying and my jars were ready to be used. I grabbed my drawer front and laid the jars on top, figuring out exactly 
where the placement of them would be. This is all about your preference. You can place them as far or as near, from each other, as your heart desires. Or as high or low as you prefer. You can even use more jars or less jars. As you can see I went with 4 jars and placed them equal lengths apart, in the center of the board. When I decided on a placement I marked a little spot where the lip of the jar sits. 4 jars equals four marks. then moved the jars and pre-drilled holes for my screws. Pre-drilling the holes, helps to prevent the wood from splitting. For this I used my drill and drill bit. I also pre-drilled holes into all four of my clamps. Once that was complete I was able to screw the clamps to the drawer front. I used screws from my stash of saved goodies. My stash of saved goodies includes screws, brackets, bolts and such items from anything and anything. When we bought a flat screen tv wall mount, it came with extra pieces because it was universal. You know what I did with those extra pieces? I added them to my stash of goodies. Yeah buddy! Any how. I screwed my clamps into place and then I was on to the last step, adding the jars. Adding the jars was as easy as just placing them into the clamps and screwing the clamps tight enough to secure the jars. That was it. My $4 DIY Mason Jar Décor/Organizer was done.
Now wasn’t that sooooo easy. And at a cost of only $4 or $0 if you really want. You can’t beat it!
I hope I have inspired you to keep your eyes open and your imagination turned on. You can find a DIY Décor Diamond in the rough just about any where!
With Love,
Melissa
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