Cool Beans

After tidying up around the house most of the day today, I decided I needed to run out and do a few errands that really needed to be accomplished before the weekend was over.  I wanted to pick up a baby gift and maybe find some pansies to put into the urn out front just to give me a little wintertime pick me up.  Pansies are so great for that, they can endure the cold and will get a jump start so that by the time Spring rolls around they look lush and beautiful.

Mr. Tide had been outside all day doing some cleaning up. When he came in for a very late lunch, I told him that I had been thinking about my grandmother's old Mason jars I had used during the holidays and how I hated to put them away but didn't want to keep the lights and greens with them because it all looked too Christmas"y".  I went on to explain how I thought antique buttons in soft shades of white, cream and maybe even brown would look so pretty in them. He agreed, but being the logical and practical man that he is, he pointed out that those three jars were going to require a LOT of buttons and just where was I thinking I would find these massive quantities of antique buttons?!

So with my proverbial bubble burst to smithereens, I began to try and figure out something else I could put in there.  Seashells?...no I have those in a tall footed vase on top of my china cabinet at the moment.  Seaglass?...no that seemed a bit too summery and I didn't have nearly enough of that either.  After Mr. Tide began suggesting sand, something we have a lot of, and other free things from around our yard, it dawned on me...why not use beans?!

Ok, ok I know I'm not a rocket scientist and I know this has been done a million times in a million different ways, but somehow it just never really occurred to be to use beans!  Cheap, white, interesting, they were the prefect choice.

We stopped by Food Lion and I grabbed 6 bags of little white beans and voila, I had just the look I was after at a fraction of the price of antique buttons!  

I was about 2 bags shy of what I really needed, so tomorrow I'll grab two more bags and then they'll be just the way I want them!

Even with the one jar being "shy" a few beans, I am loving this look!  I still like the idea of antique buttons, so if any of you happen to know where a few hundred white and cream buttons might be hiding, please let me know!

Don't forget to stop by Funky Junk Interiors to see other great DIY projects and to join in the fun!