Remember the art I recently added to our guest bathroom? Here’s a little tutorial for the mounted mason jar, if you’d like to make your own. It’s a quick, 1 hour project (not including dry time!)! Let me show you how to make a mounted mason jar to hold all your pretty things!
Supplies:
- Scrap board – any shape will do so long as you like how it looks!
- Sandpaper – 3 grits, I used 60, 120, and 220.
- Tack cloth – to remove dust from sanding.
- Polyurethane – feel free to stain first if you’d like! I had a nice piece of Maple so I decided to just use a clear coat.
- Paint triangles – to hold your project off the work area
- Mason jar
- Pipe clamp
Sand the Board
Beginning with the coarsest sandpaper (this is the lowest number, 60 in my case), give the board a good sanding. Then work through the next smoothest (I used 120 grit) and finally, one more sanding with the finest grit (I used 220 for my last round). Rub your fingers over the board as you work your way through the various grits, the board should get smoother and smoother as you go. Stop when the board is equally smooth across the entire surface of the board.
Clean the Board
Using the tack cloth, wipe all dust from sanding off the board. It’s also a good idea to make sure your work area isn’t covered in sawdust too. I was working in my garage, so the wind still kicks up any dust in the area as I’m painting. I gave my drop cloth a good shake outside the garage to knock off some of the dust before opening the poly.
Apply Two (or Three!) Coats of Polyurethane
The finish coat is subjective, stop when you are happy with how the board looks. I applied two thin coats, and each coat took less than 5 minutes from start to finish. My board is small! BUT dry time is what turns a 1 hour project into a multi-day project for me. The polyurethane I used required 4 hours of dry time in between coats. This usually means I only get one coat per day. I can have the best of intentions to come back in 4 hours, and yet, it never happens!
Attach Sawtooth Hanger
Once the board is dry and able to be handled, mark the center on the back of the board. Center a sawtooth picture hanger on the mark and nail into place.
Pro tip: Ha, not really, I’m not a pro. This is more like, “Hey-Maybe-You-Don’t-Know-The-Best-Way-To-Do-This-And-Could-Use-This-Tip”
- Mark the holes for the nails with a pencil
- Drill pilot holes at the pencil marks
- Use needle-nose pliers to hold the tiny nail in place while hammering in securely
Complete transparency: Dan told me about the needle-nose pliers. Saved my fingers, he did.
Attach Pipe Clamp
Flip the board over and mark the center of the front of the board. This is where you will attach the pipe clamp. The distance from the top of your board is up to you. I chose to center my mason jar horizontally and vertically.
The method of attaching the clamp stumped me for a bit. I thought a screw would be the strongest, but I couldn’t get it through the metal clamp. So my first attempt was with a small nail like in the picture below.
But when I attached the mason jar, it just didn’t seem strong enough. So Dan was kind enough to force a screw through the pipe clamp. Apparently it isn’t that hard, you just need to lean a bit harder on the drill! So use a screw and push really hard on your drill!
Slide in Mason Jar and Tighten
Use a screwdriver to loosen the pipe clamp enough to slide the mason jar into the ring of the clamp. Then use the screw driver to tighten the pipe clamp around the jar. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN! The jar will break. I did kill one mason jar in the making of the project, sorry folks.
Admire Your Handiwork
Step back and admire your efforts! You made something that has form and function that can be hung on the wall. Look at you! Fill it with something pretty and hang it up!
I chose to fill mine with the extra letters for the letterboard in our guest bathroom. Having the extra letters easy to find will hopefully inspire me and my guests to change the message often. However, have you seen this picture before?
It’s so funny because it’s true. It takes for-ev-uh to find all the right letters then get them spaced evenly without crooked letters. My perfectionism only goes so far. I will straighten a few letters, maybe as much as 5 but then it’s however they land on the board. My guest will forgive me, I think…
Where could you use an extra holder of things? Pens/pencils by your desk? Toothbrushes in a small bathroom? Make-up brushed by the vanity? Any fun/practical projects on your horizon? What about any funny quotes for my quote board. I usually like quotes with a bit of sass, how about you?
Leave a Reply