The Hunt for Mason Jars etc.

Hi, my name is Ryn, and I'm addicted to glass jars. It's true. I indulged again today when I purchased yet another set of Mason jars (the cute short one on the far right)! In this post, I'm going to indulge myself even more by TALKING about buying jars. It's like having your cake and eating it too!

Say hello to my precious lovelies. From the left:

1. The Vintage Coke Bottle 

2. The Milk Bottle 

3. The Ball Mason Jar (Pint Size)

4. The Pudding Cup

5. The Ball Collection Elite Mason Jar (Half pint)

I don't know if this is common knowledge but the only place in K.L. where I have been to find a true Mason Jar, is ACE Hardware. ACE sells a small range of Ball brand jars in several shapes and sizes. They're beautiful and hardy and amazingly photogenic. They're also crazy expensive for little pieces of glass. For a carton of 12 Pint Sized Mason Jars, you'll fork out RM90 (something!) . For a set of 4 half-pint sized Elite Mason Jars (right), you'll begrudgingly pay RM42.90. Compare this with my little glass Pudding Cup (left), purchased from QualityPack a small shop lot in Puchong, which costs no more than 30sen/piece. 

Why then would I purchase a Mason Jar you ask?

Well, first, a Ball Mason jar is made out of a much sturdier glass which can withstand most oven baking and freezing without cracking. So far, I've made baked macaroni and chocolate lava cake in my jars without any incidents. They're also perfect for storing homemade ice cream. Meanwhile, the lady at QualityPack advised me not to bake their glass jars unless maybe in a waterbath but I'm too chicken to try. And second, LOOK AT IT! It's sooo pretttyyyyyyy! I rest my case.

Having said that though, these non-branded glass jars have served me well too. The Vintage Coke Bottle (left) I've used for parties to serve individual portions of drinks. The Pudding Cup (right) is great for desserts that don't need to be baked like Chocolate Mousse, homemade beauty products and gifting. Both these glasses are from QualityPack and didn't cost more than 50sen each. They also come in many different sizes so are very versatile. The downside is that you'll have to purchase a minimum of 20 or 30 at a time.

Read this post for details on where to get the Milk Bottle (center).

My Pint Sized Mason Jar in action. It's carrying some homemade chocolate ice cream all ready to be gifted.

Here are the addresses and contact numbers of where to get these jars and more:

QualityPack

No. 52, Jalan Puchong Mesra 1,

Plaza Puchong, Batu 7 1/2 Jalan Puchong,
58200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 3 80763800
Fax: +60 3 80753687

Ace Hardware

Check out their website to find a store near you. I bought mine from the Publika branch but I would call ahead to check if they have the size you're looking for as they often have limited quantities of each type or they may bring in new ones.

DIY: Graphic Tee

I did another one! This time for myself. I bought a Tshirt from Forever 21 again (only RM19) and got out my sharpies. It hardly needs explanation but a step-by-step follows nonetheless:

Le T-shirt and le markers de fabrique.

With Tshirts that are too opaque to trace on, start with a practice draft. Place it on the shirt and position it until satisfied.

A close-up for good measure. 

I usually do a light outline first before going over it again. 

Tip: buy a t-shirt with tight knits rather than loose knits. The softer and stretchier the Tee the more bleed and the more difficult to get crisp lines on.

The finished product: A geeky tee for the social scientist is all of us. I added a box around the words. You may notice that its also slightly off-centred. damn.

Tip: Don't draw it off-centre!!!! Also, try to make sure the pattern is smaller than your chest area so that it's visible at all times.

DIY: Fabric Marker Gifts

Over Christmas I did a few of these personalised T-shirts with Sharpie fabric markers and they turned out great! So easy to do and perfect for when you need something personalised but haven't had time to shop. Most of these only take about 20 minutes to do and that's with my non-existent drawing skills.

This was for a friend of mine who is getting married soon! The plain cotton tote is from MUJI and I can't remember exactly but I think it only cost about RM4 on average depending on the size. The fabric Sharpies you can get from almost any stationery or craft store. I bought mine from Art Friend and Popular Bookstore. They come in a set of 4 colours and cost about RM17 a set.

You can freehand it or draw (with a regular sharpie) on a piece of paper first. Some T-shirts are too thick for the paper to show through so you'll have to freehand and hope it all turns out OK.

                             

Place the piece of paper and something thick inside the bag and trace. The marker does seep through sometimes so the backing is a must. Lefties will know why I'm tracing upside down.

It's probably best to press the design with a hot iron to "seal" in the ink but there's no indication on the package that you have to.

I don't know how to match colours without making things look tacky so I almost always go with black. I like these markers because the tip is brush like and very fine so its possible to do very detailed drawings like this cartoon ball-and-chain.