little things i love

In my never-ending quest for new variations on the glass jar (yes, scary that this is a quest of mine), I’ve stumbled across an oldie but a goodie: Weck jars. Introduced in Germany in the early 1900s, these jars popularized home canning and have been a staple in Europe ever since. I noticed them popping up in American stores like World Market this year, and they were featured in Williams Sonoma’s canning displays. Weck-brand canning jars come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have cool detachable lids and metal clips to fasten them shut. I’m a sucker for an interesting glass jar, and these have been perfect for gifts of candied pecans this holiday season. I’m also using a bunch of jars to hold leftovers in my kitchen and supplies in the craft room. Oh yeah, and I guess at some point I might get around to actually canning something with them.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing this blog long enough to have entries a year in the making. Last January, I gave myself a challenge: to put together one fresh flower arrangement for the house every month. I stipulated that the flowers and greenery in the arrangements must be chosen separately by me (no pre-arranged flowers for this girl), which forced me to take my time, think about colors and textures and types of flowers, and to arrange them in a pretty way. I have always loved flowers and love that Drew gives them to the girls and me to mark important occasions. This has been a fun project and may be something that sticks around for a long time. Because these fresh flowers have definitely added a little more happy to our house, and our darker Seattle days have seemed just a bit brighter. It’s little things like this that make life more beautiful.