I don’t know what the deal is here, but about 6 months ago I decided to pull my long standing, blue glass salt and pepper shakers out of action. It wasn’t that there was anything functionally wrong with them… they still work great. I relieved them of their duty because 1) the blue wasn’t really jiving with my dining room colors, 2) their little tin tops are looking pretty banged up and 3) I only have one set and when we have a large group over and our table is fully extended I like to have two sets of salt & pepper shakers and I want them to match. Ooh.. when I type it all out it sounds pretty vain and petty. But you know what I’m talking about, right? Well, replacing your salt & pepper shakers sounds like a simple enough task but it has proven otherwise. I bought two sets of plain white shakers. They are sweet, they are simple….and, well… quite frankly…they suck! Their cute little “S” and “P” hole patterns continually get plugged up with salt and pepper. Nothing like going to spritz up your dinner just to have to get up, grab a toothpick, clean out the shaker, sprinkle your food and for what? A cold bite… that’s what! And if that weren’t bad enough, the little stoppers at the bottom keep getting poked up inside the shaker (don’t ask… I have no idea how that is happening) and salt and pepper is everywhere! Oh my gosh… if there is one thing that drives me crazy (ha ha… if ONLY there was just ONE thing to drive me crazy) it is stepping, in my bare feet, on gritty seasonings that have spilled all over the floor! Ooooh…. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.
Then, low and behold, as I was skipping down the yellow brick road of the internet, I was led straight to the great Wizard of Pinterest. I heard the little munchkins singing as I, without even seeking it out, laid eyes on a set of simple, inexpensive to make and frankly… adorable… little shakers from Landeeseelandeedo. With a couple of little jars, a dab or two of chalk paint, hammer and nail THOSE COULD BE MINE! All mine!
Guess what? … (I totally sound like the little VDKs here. I routinely am asked questions likes, “Mom, guess what song we sung at school today?” I, half listening to this question because I’m thinking about 20 different things at once am not really interested in GUESSING anything, respond with a very blank…or even exasperated, “Uh, I don’t know. What?” I won’t make you guess… I’m sure you’ve already figured it out. Yes, you are correct… I made my own little cutie pootie salt & pepper shakers and they are WONDERFUL!! I have to say, though, Mr. Marvelous never ceases to amaze me. Jill and I decided to tackle a couple of projects this weekend…the salt and pepper shakers being one of them. (The other is still a secret but I will be writing about that one soon enough!) While Jill and I were chatting away, painting our jars and our newly assembled (nope, still can’t tell you what we had just assembled) at the dining room table, Mr. Marvelous sat down and was working on a little something of his own. Since I wasn’t really focused on him at the moment, it took me a few minutes to finally register what I was seeing him doing and inquire about it.
Me-“Hey, Baby… why are you making little teeny tiny tic tac toe boards?” I’m thinking, Oh no… has he just gone and lost his marbles? I’m kinda scared here… maybe I don’t want his daughter to see him this way.
Mr. Marvelous- (sigh…) “They aren’t tic tac toe boards, they are grids to put on your lids to map out where to DRILL the holes.” I love that man! I was ready to grab a hammer and nail but he is far too precise for that…even when it comes to little jelly jar shakers. He grabbed the old blue glass shakers, (the models of perfect functionality that they are,) got a drill bit the same size as their holes are and proceeded to map out and drill the holes in the lids for Jill and I. I gotta hand it to him… they look a lot better than mine would have! (He says that’s why I’m management and he is labor.)
I left my new delightful shakers on the dining room table for a few days….empty. I had just been admiring them so, I didn’t even think to fill them and take the crummy ol’ white ones out of commission. Until yesterday when one of the VDK’s went to spice up his eggs in the morning, got the little stopper shoved up inside the dang pepper shaker and went running for the kitchen with it. Hmm… maybe I should FILL the new cutie shakers instead of just lovingly gazing at them. What a novel idea! He said they worked PERFECTLY!! Honest… he did!
Well, as you may have noted, I am pleased as punch (I can honestly say I’ve never used that expression before) with my new little shakers and I know they are going to make me proud. I’ll be banging out set number two here shortly but I just couldn’t wait to show them off.
Here is what I did:
1) I picked up a couple of jelly jars when I was at Michaels the other day.
2) I applied an S sticker to one and a P sticker to the other as I wanted those spots to remain clear of paint.
3) I removed the lids (so they didn’t get any paint on them) and applied 2 coats of an off-white chalk paint I already had on hand. I didn’t paint up to the top where the lid screws on, but rather, just up to that point.
4) Once the paint was dry, I removed the stickers.
5) I then took some sand paper to rough them up a bit to give them an aged look
6) Voila… at that point I just sat back and enjoyed them for a few days.
7) I haven’t done this yet, but I am now thinking it would be wise to spray them with a clear sealant. I got to thinking that these could get a little dirty being passed around the dinner table and will need to be able to hold up to a good wipe down.
I hope you enjoyed this simple yet satisfying little project. If you have any suggestions or similar projects please do share!
Now… go on …get out there and spice up your day!