Turquoise Mason Jars and Another Lesson in Patience

Happy Memorial Day Friends!  Hope ya'll had a great weekend!!  We were busy helping some friends move, which is always exciting...especially since they're only three minutes from us now instead of an hour away!  Yay!

So about the blue ball jars...first I'll have to tell you about my worst yard sale experience EVER.  (And if you read The Frugal Homemaker blog, she shared this in her yard sale series a few weeks ago.)  Last year, when I was hugely preggo with Lucy-loo, I went to this yard sale and right there in the driveway was a box FULL of vintage turquoise mason jars, quart and half gallon size, marked for 50 cents or $1 a piece.  I thought I was  going to faint!! ( I had been searching for them for years!!)  So I’m picking some out and then this very large man walks up, who I hadn't even seen anywhere when I got there, and says "Those are mine."  I was like "What??"  And he said, "Yeah, those are mine already."  I seriously couldn’t believe it. The sale had just begun, I was seriously like the first person there, (or so I thought) and they were already gone.  I understand the whole "That’s my pile" rule in yard-saling, but he wasn’t even near them. It was just the box that they were being sold in and was sitting with all of the other things for sale.  This was a rare time when my hubby was with me (well, he was waiting in the van) and as we were driving away I started telling him what happened and he had seen the man and he goes, "What?  That man pulled up after us and walked up while you were looking!"   Uggh… I know it was just turquoise mason jars, but I seriously cried because I had been looking for them for so long and then that happened. (And I was like 8 months pregnant if that counts for anything, haha.)   

Well, then in February I was at local antique mall with my hubby and out of 380-some booths that we looked at, I found ONE turquoise mason jar...and they wanted $10.00 for it. (!!)  As much as I love them, I just couldn't fork over ten bucks for it.  

And honestly, after I passed it up, a part of me regretted it.  I kept kicking myself for not buying it.  But then again, it was one of those things that I knew that if I waited long enough, I would find them for a better price, or so I hoped!

Fast forward to our recent northern excursion to Pennsylvania.  One afternoon while Lucy and Levi were napping, Steven and I left the kiddos with my mom and went to check out the Salvation Army. (Hooray for Grandmas!)  In the past I had scored some great finds there, but that day I found nothing. We were on the way home and Steven goes, "Hey, you want to go check out any antique stores or anything?"  (Can we say big brownie points?! LOL) I couldn't remember where any were and he told me about this antique store that we had passed that looked like a big red barn.  An antique store in a big red barn?!  Yes, please!!  

In my book, pretty much anything that has to do with a big red barn is awesomeness.   Just sayin'.  =D

This place was SO cool, I wish I had had my camera with me!  It actually was a converted Old Mill (Called Bob's Red Mill) and was just so full of character.  Almost as soon as we walked in, I saw this big pile of stuff off to the side...looked like he had just bought some stuff and hadn't sorted and priced it yet.  And right there on the floor was a small box full of turquoise mason jars!!  I couldn't believe it!  Then the dreaded thought of "Oh my, I wonder how much they cost!" hit me.  So I picked one up and found the man who owned the place and asked him and he goes, "Well, usually I sell them around $5-10 a piece, but you can have them for $2."  TWO DOLLARS!!!! {squeal} 

Want to know something funny?  About the time I spotted the jars my husband got a phone call and had to take it so I'm signing to him and pointing at the jars and grinning like a goof-ball.....that store owner must have thought I was nuts. =P

So, for $14, I came away with seven turquoise mason jars...two half gallon size, 4 quart, and one pint jar, and the antique dealer told me that they were from around 1860's.  How cool is that?!  

I'm having so much fun decorating with them, they add such a gorgeous pop of color!

{open shelving in our kitchen}

{Loving how they look with the yarn wreath on my fantle!}

You know what? Every day as I look at these jars it just reaffirms what I learned from not having lampshades for so long and then finally finding them at a price I could afford....having patience and wisely using the resources God has given you will be so rewarding in the end! 

What are you waiting on?  Any lessons in patience in your life recently?

Linking up to: Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality