Blog - The Semi Organized Ant

August 26, 2023

How I’ve Been Using Mason Jars in my Kitchen

These simple little glass jars are used for so many things.

Home and wedding decor, floral vases, makeup brush holder, overnight oatmeal…and of course, I can’t leave out this little super stars original use, to preserve food.

It’s the humble but oh so popular, mason jar!

I love using mason jars (or any recycled jar for that matter) for floral decorations around my home. They are so easy to work with and always turn out so pretty. But today I’m sharing a few simple but very useful ways that I’ve been making use of them around my kitchen for the last few months.

Let’s get started!

How I’ve Been Using Mason Jars in my Kitchen

Knick Knack Container:

I realized that I was always looking for basic items when I’m in the kitchen like scissors and pens. So for a few months now I’ve been keeping those items right on the countertop in a mason jar next to my coffee machine. It may not be the usual spot where scissors and pens may be stored in a kitchen but having them so handy has been really helpful since I’m always writing out to do’s or shopping lists in the kitchen and opening up packages.

This youtuber that I’ve watched for years, Tiffany D, once mentioned how when she organizes around her house she keeps things where she knows she is using them as opposed to organizing like items together. Like maybe storing your hair appliances in the bedroom as opposed to the bathroom, like I do, because I know that that’s where I like to use them.

Baking Soda Container:

I occasionally like to use baking soda to give my sink a good cleaning but I’m usually lazy about reaching for it under the sink or where ever else I would store it. So I needed to make it really easy to get to when I needed it (especially at the end of the day when I’m usually tired and wanting to get to bed 🙂

A mason jar has worked out perfectly for my baking soda.

Vege Oil Container:

I’ve been using a mason jar as a temporary container for my vegetable oil. I had to get rid of the bottle I was using for a few years now because it was getting really yucky in certain areas that I couldn’t get into to clean properly.

I’ve been meaning to buy a new oil container but honestly, I kind of like how the oil looks in the mason jar, so I’m not in too much of a rush to replace it just yet. And what’s nice is that it’s easier to keep the mason jar clean compared to my old bottle.

Left Over Coffee Container:

I always have coffee in the morning (thank the good Lord for coffee, its so yummy) and sometimes I like making extra coffee for the next day. I find a glass container to be perfect for storing my coffee, it doesn’t get stained and keeps my coffee fresh for the next morning.

Just an extra fun idea: My husband was actually using a large glass jar a few months ago (not a mason jar but something very similar) when he was having an iced coffee kick. He would make a big pot of coffee or have me make it for him and we’d put it in the fridge so that he had iced coffee for a few days to take to work in the morning. Surprisingly, it always tasted fresh!

Ok friends, well that’s it for this one! I hope you enjoyed my 4 simple mason jar uses in my kitchen. If you have any fun or interesting way to use mason jars in your kitchen, or around your home please share in the comments below. I’d love to hear it!

Sending happy, safe, and healthy vibes your way. May God bless you and your family today and every beautiful day to come!

August 4, 2023

3 Easy Faux Floral Centerpieces

I love flowers.

Whether it’s real or faux, I find flowers so beautiful, and almost always like to include them whenever I’m making centerpieces or any other decorations for my home.

Sadly, I don’t have a green thumb. My house plants are lucky if they make it through a few month in my home (I’m pretty sure there’s a picture of me at Home Depot with a sign saying don’t let this customer buy anymore plants).

No matter how hard I try, they never last. So I usually stick to faux for everything that I make.

Today’s centerpieces are no exception to that. I’m using these beautiful, colorful faux flowers that I found at the Dollar Tree as well as a bunch of white and blue daisies that I had from Walmart.

They all came together fairly easy. It can sometimes be very frustrating for me to try and create a centerpiece because I am no professional, but I was surprised, and relieved, at how easy these 3 were!

ok, let’s begin!

3 Easy Faux Floral Centerpieces

My first centerpiece starts off with a glass vase bowl that I filled with a layer of flat marbles.

Then I added a few large rocks on top of that.

I finished with a few orange faux flowers as well as a few faux leaves.

The next centerpiece started off with this arrangement that I used for spring and then added 3 extra bushes of faux flowers From the Dollar Tree.

I also added a few clear marbles to the bottom of the vase.

Surprisingly, this arrangement came together fairly quickly. I usually have a hard time bringing my centerpieces together! It’s like trial and error over and over and over again. So I was pretty happy when I finished.

The orange, purple and blue flowers you see below are the 3 bunches of Dollar Tree flowers that I added into the flowers that were already there.

Lastly, this very simple arrangement consists of a recycled jar, another orange flower, like the one I used above and more of those faux leaves.

I finished with an orange ribbon that I had left over from this fall centerpiece. The ribbon is simply taped on to the jar around the back. I like using scotch tape for attaching ribbons to vases, it seems to keep the ribbon in place the best.

Hope you enjoyed these 3 easy faux floral centerpieces and find some inspiration for your home decorating as well!

Sending happy, safe, and healthy vibes your way. May God bless you and your family today and every beautiful day to come!

July 28, 2023

3 Super Simple Rock and Marble Mini “Vase” Decorations

It’s become a recurring event here…

Simple centerpieces, simple decorations.

I really fall in love with simple decorations. Add a couple of daisies or one breath taking peony to a pretty little vase, and it’s official guys, I’m in heaven!

So today I’m sharing a few very simple, but oh so pretty, table decorations that I brought together using rocks and marbles.

I equally love repurposing and making use of whatever I have on hand for a vase. I find candle holders, old jars, beer bottles, drinking glasses and even olive oil bottles to be perfect for simple arrangements.

You can find most of the items that I am using today (or something similar) at any Dollar store, Walmart or Target. Most of my items came from the dollar store with the exception of a few that I’ve had forever.

Ok, here we go…

3 Super Simple Rock and Marble Mini “Vase” Decorations

I put together this simple little turquoise decoration using clear marbles, one turquoise faux flower, and faux leaves that I removed from the stem…

Spoiler alert: you may read the word simple over and over and over again 🙂

I brought my flower and leaves together…

And placed them over a tiny shot glass filled with the clear marbles.

Super simple but so darn cute!

I only made one of this simple little cutie but it would be so pretty to have a few more, maybe 4-5 to place on a window seal, table, or scattered around a countertop.

Here I used green marbles, small rocks, one yellow faux flower…

Added the rocks and marbles to a glass cup, placed the flower on top…

And it sits on my kitchen countertop, right next to my daughter’s cheerios 🙂

This is another one that I think would be beautiful if you make more than one!

The size of your table (or where ever you are placing these) would probably dictate how many you would need. If you have a long dining table maybe as many as 5 or 7 would be great! You can also place white paper doilies under each one, line them all up side by side and even change the color for each flower or stick to one color and use different shades of that color for each glass.

For this last simple rock and marble table decoration I used the same green marbles as above, twine and a few beads.

I wrapped twine around the top of this small candle holder, finished off with a bow then attached a few beads.

I used Gorilla double sided mounting tape for my beads but that’s only because I’ve been experimenting with that tape to see what projects I can use it for. You can of course use a hot glue gun or whatever you have on hand that will hold the beads in place.

And that’s it for my 3 super simple rock and marble decorations.

Sending happy, safe, and healthy vibes your way. May God bless you and your family today and every beautiful day to come!

June 24, 2023

Easy Blue Faux Floral Centerpiece

Periwinkle blue….Cornflower blue

Navy blue…..Nautical blue

Sky blue…..Baby blue

Royal blue…..Sapphire blue

So many shades, and names, of the beautiful color blue!

Easy Blue Faux Floral Centerpiece

As the title implies, this is a very easy centerpiece to bring together. I used a few faux florals, some old, some new. White rocks, a small fish bowl vase, and then arranged the flowers by keeping the same flowers together on either side and finishing up with a hydrangea down the center of my arrangement.

Ok, here we go!

I started with a small round vase filled with white decorative rocks…