Blog Tour: DIY Mason Jar Vase // Down with the Shine - Kate Karyus Quinn

Title: Down With The Shine
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Publisher: HarperTEEN

There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave.

These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago.

Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on their "important family legacy," she thought they meant good old-fashioned bootlegging.

As it turns out, they meant granting wishes. And Lennie has just granted more in one night than her uncles would grant in a year.

Now she has to find a way to undo the damage. But once granted, a wish can't be unmade...

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DIY MASON JARS

I am very excited to be writing this post right now. When I first heard of this tour, I had the idea instantly from the cover of the novel. Mason jars are so great for drinking but they also make some pretty cool decorative pieces. Today, we're going to be making some flower vases. This is for plastic/fake flowers only. As far as I know, the paint mixing with the water for real flowers is toxic.

Materials: 

• Mason jar
• Two bowls
• Glitter. You can choose whatever color[s] you want for some lovely sparkle.
• Acrylic paint. I made the mistake of getting bad quality paint from Walmart. I recommend going to an art store to get some paint that won't peel. This brand in this picture will peel and it will be annoying as f.
• Brushes
• Elmer's clear glue.
• Plastic flowers [Walmart]
• Pliers.

Step One: Mix glue and glitter into one bowl. [Image one] Obviously, the product is glitter glue. With this mixture, coat the inside of the jar. Don't spread it too thick or it'll drip. It's better to go really thin and do multiple coats. [Final product, image two.]
*note: you can't mix paint and glitter. If it's super obvious why, it wasn't to me. I lost all my green glitter in the blue paint, oh well. [Basically, the paint will completely coat the glitter.]

Step Two: while the glitter is drying, you can start cutting the flowers. Specifically, the flowers I bought were in one big bouquet so they needed to be cut to the size of the jar. The flowers I have also have metal in the stems so pliers are required. If your flowers are different/already cut to perfect size, then congratulations! You have less work. YAY!

Step Three: Put the paint in another bowl and starting laying down a coat. Same rules apply. Thin coats help dry faster. If your first coat dries cracked and uneven, you may want to rethink your paint. However, if you're like me, you can do a few more coats. I did like three or four and it looks relatively okay. Another idea I wanted to explore was to cover the cracks with another color. That would be so awesome!

As you can see below, it looks kind of cool with the glitter and the paint.

Step Four: Put it together.

Honestly, this is such a simple and inexpensive craft. In total, I spent like ten dollars, which is pretty good to me; especially since some of these can be materials you already have in the house. Right now, I leave this jar on my shelf to add a bit more color and life. If you're like me and can't keep plants alive, I definitely recommend this craft - and don't forget to check out DOWN WITH THE SHINE!

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Kate Karyus Quinn is an avid reader and menthol chapstick addict. She has lived in California and Tennessee, but recently made the move back to her hometown of Buffalo, New York, with her husband and two children in tow. She promised them wonderful people, amazing food, and weather that would... build character. Another Little Piece is her first novel.

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