How to Make Mason Jar Centerpieces

This centerpiece makes a lovely decoration for a garden party, Summer wedding or your dining room table. The materials are easily obtained and you can substitute your favorite silk flowers for the ones pictured here to better fit your theme. Here are tips for transforming a plain Mason jar into a decorative centerpiece.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 1/2-gallon Mason jar
• Sunflower, large
• Wire cutters
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Ribbon, 1 inch wide
• Sand
• Pillar candle, no more than 2 1/2 inches wide
• Wooden spoon
• Small flower bunch with at least 3 branches
• Beaded garland
• 2 medium silk flowers
• Millinery butterflies

1. Remove the lid from your Mason jar and discard the center section, leaving only the ring.

2. Snip the stem of the large sunflower 1 inch below the flower head and bend the remaining stem at a 90-degree angle downward.

3. Glue the sunflower stem to the outside ring of the jar's lid, making sure all petals are facing outward from the ring to avoid becoming a fire hazard.

4. Cover the ring with a length of ribbon, overlapping it behind the flower head to hide the join and further securing the flower stem with a few extra dots of glue. Allow to dry completely.

5. Fill the Mason jar with sand, about an inch deep, and then place you pillar candle in the center of the sand, pushing it all the way down. Use the wooden spoon to tamp down the sand around the candle base to steady the candle in case the table or centerpiece is bumped while the candle is lit.

6. Separate the three main stems of your medium flower bunch and attach them, end to end, with hot glue. Make all attachments along the wired section of the stems, and if possible, hide the joins by wrapping pairs of leaves around the glued ends. Shape the elongated stem into a circle large enough to surround the base of the Mason jar and glue the final join to complete the circle.

7. Cut 18 inches of your beaded garland, secure any loose ends, and arrange all arms to point in one direction from the main wire.

8. Wind the beaded garland carefully around the flower circle, shoring up the joins as well as using the wired arms to space out the clusters of flowers.

9. Add the two medium-sized flowers into the ring, filling in any bare spots that may have happened during the previous steps.

10. Screw the decorated ring onto the Mason jar and then attach two butterflies as if they were flitting around the glass, trying to get to the light. You can place one on the back of the rim or both on the sides of the glass, whichever looks best.

11. Place the flower-and-bead circle on your table with the Mason jar in the center of the ring. Light the candle and enjoy your new decoration.

Tips & Warnings

• Since this garland will go around the base of the Mason jar and there is a definite front with the sunflower on the rim, angling the medium flowers to the back and sides make the centerpiece more 3-dimensional, therefore your guests won't think they're looking at the back of the arrangement.

• Never leave a lit candle unattended.

• Make sure no decorations hang over or into the opening of the Mason jar to avoid the decorations catching fire.