Elizabeth Gilbert Archives - Life With Lorelai

Times are tight and tough right now for Rory and me. So, I thought I would do something to remind us that we are still blessed in many ways. There are still things for which we can be happy.

We have long had the tradition of a Christmas Blessings Box. This decorated box sits below our Christmas Tree with Christmassy paper and pens next to it for everyone to write random blessings and place them in the box. We do our big celebrating and gift opening on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas morning (after the excitement of stockings), we settle in next to the tree and read the notes in the Christmas Blessings Box.

I thought it would be a nice idea to turn this long-time holiday tradition into an everyday opportunity. I knew I had seen something on the internet regarding a Happiness Jar and it had reminded me of our Christmas box. I did a search and found lots of photos and even the originator of the idea. Read about Elizabeth Gilbert and her Happiness Jar, here.

Remembering that I had found an old mason jar when cleaning off the shelf over the dryer, I went to find where I had stored it. I grabbed my prize and went to scrub it clean. It had bits of old labeling stuck to it. Have you any idea how to get off those pesky bits? It’s really very simple…vegetable oil! I ran the jar under hot water to heat the leftover labeling and then scrubbed the jar with vegetable oil. The old labeling came easily off the glass.

Now, I had a sparkling jar to decorate. I tied a beautiful floral print bow around it and designed a printable (watch for this Printable DIY as a post soon).

I liked the idea of using a clear Mason jar for my Happiness Jar because you can see the blessings piling up inside. I figure that once a month Rory and I will sit down together and read these happy notes. Long live the Happiness Jar!