Mason Jar and Wood Slice Tag

We have an amazing ministry in our town called Greenhouse Ministries.  They offer food, gas vouchers, housing assistance, GED tutoring, and a host of other classes to help those in need in our community.

source

Their current facility is bursting at the seams and in desperate need of more room.  A group of supporters is hosting a Denim and Diamonds Raffle and Auction to help raise funds for Greenhouse's expansion.  I've helped with events at Greenhouse in the past and I was excited to be asked to help with the decorations and displays for this event.

Photos via www.readyvillemill.com

The Denim and Diamonds Raffle and Auction will be held at a historic mill in the Readyville community.  To go along with the theme and the historic, old building, I needed to come up with a container to hold the tickets for each raffle item.  This is similar to a silent auction except that guests will purchase raffle tickets and place them in the container beside the item they hope to win.  The more tickets you place in the container, the better your chance to win!

So, what did I come up with??  Here it is:

A simple wide-mouth mason jar with a wood slice tag to mark the item number, a small envelope that will contain the item description, and jute and denim ribbons.  (The ticking fabric is just for the photo!)

Using my husband's chop saw, I cut the wood slices from a fallen hickory branch.  It went very quickly but you do have to be careful when you're cutting thin slices.  The spinning blade will try to throw the slice backwards once it's cut.  Always wear your safety glasses and keep your hand that is holding the branch at a safe distance from the blade.  Once the branch becomes too short to handle safely, stop.  A natural branch is not level or square and could become difficult to hold securely.

Once I had the slices cut, I placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet in a 200 degree oven...just to make sure there were not any bugs living in the bark.  The limb was still green so placing it in the oven helps dry it out.  After the slices were dried in the oven for about an hour, I painted the centers with black chalkboard paint and drilled a hole in the top to string the jute through.

It's a very simple project but looks great!  These could be used for weddings as table markers, for cookouts to hold utensils, or even as candle holders using tealights.

As you can see from the photo, the branch has lots of lichen and I left it attached.  I like the natural look of it.

Once the evening is over, I will have a nice supply of the wood slice tags to use again.

I had more of the branch left over after the tags.  I made something else but I'll post more on that this week.  Let's just say it involves more gold paint!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!
Angie


I'll be sharing this project here: