Mason Jar Ring Bangle

There are many random, household objects that can be made into jewelry. Some of them, don’t have to be labeled ‘garbage’, they just need to be labeled as a household necessity.

Take rings that are parts of lids of mason jars, for instance. What does that look like? Hm… a bracelet, maybe? To me, when I was washing dishes, it looked a bit like a bangle. I slid it over my hand and onto my wrist, and now, I have a brand new bracelet. It fits perfectly on my hand, the way a bangle would.

If you start collecting rings from mason jars, or, mason jars themselves, you can go between using it for said jar, or as a bracelet. If you don’t want to use the jars as jars, you can use them for thing such as a pen cup, a toothbrush cup, or just sip from them as if they’re tumblers. You can paint the tumblers with a mixture of mod podge and paint…

… just like you can paint their rings, making them more than just from the containers, and fully reinventing them to be jewelry.

If you’re like me, and you love wandering around flea markets and consignment shops, you might come across a box of them, alone. You might also come across mason jars for a dollar a piece. The possibilities are endless at these places to shop because, to me, at least, the idea of them is turning trash into treasure, and allowing it to be so.

So, if you’re broke, or just like to think outside of the box, coming up with alternatives to jewelry that can be used as jewelry, begin looking around your home for ideas. You could paint rainbows on mason jar lids and use them as coasters. You could paint rainbows on the rings to those leads, and let them dangle like a bangle.

One of the reasons why I love thinking of alternate uses to everyday objects is because, as an artist, sometimes the best ideas come when you need to find different ideas to update what you wear. Not everybody can go out and buy new clothing, a new jewelry box, a new trash can. Instead, you need to find alternatives to the objects you need. Such as, if you’re bored with your closet, turning a t-shirt into a tank top. If you need a new jewelry box, empty a dresser drawer and line with paper cups per bracelet, earrings, or necklaces. If you need a trash can, take an empty paper bag and decorate the crap out of it, throwing all your garbage in there.

A mason jar ring is only one very small idea out of a bigger picture. Even if I wasn’t broke, it still looks like jewelry, and I’d still wear it as such. It would remind me where I came from, and remind me what kind of person I am — the kind who finds solutions when there’s a problem. 

Right now, it’s becoming harder and harder to live life where I live, and every single day I’m becoming more and more scared about money, just like so many other people are. This is why we need more ways to look at clothing, garbage, and whatever we have that we can use.

Art fights back the strongest.

A simple mason jar ring for its lid is art, and if we continue to do art, not only will we continue to express ourselves when they’re trying to shut us up, but our arts will be the loudest voices.