There`s a link way down at the bottom to all of the jars in this series so far..

True North Strong and Free! Feeling a little patriotic about our wild blueberry jam sweetened with maple syrup…it’s one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES…on toast…dribbled over goat cheese…sigh. I think Joel definitely earned his preserving badge with this one. I found some old charms at the flea market…yes…that’s Toronto’s City Hall (haha). Sewed a little band out of some plaid flannel (yes, my sewing skills are wayyy less than stellar…but it’s rustic!), attached with a nice red maple leaf button and adorned the top with a label inspired by girl guide and scout badges. Remember this one come Canada Day or cozy up in front of a fire in some flannel pajamas and crack into the wild blueberry goodness (a nice adition to a cocktail maybe??). Keep cozy…d.

I love a deadline extension! it’s been a busy week and I’ve been so excited to see some of the contributions come in. I know people are busy this time of year and i’m feeling ‘in the spirit’ so i’m extending the deadline to Monday December 6th…If you’ve already contributed, feel free to send along another, no limit to how many entries you can contribute. There’s some great ideas …check out this one from Diana at Flohaus (my talented interior design consultant friend!)…..She’s given us a little preview of her contribution and even shown how she did it…

Come on! send me your ideas! You could win a great book…..

Here’s the Details:

* Embellish, package or otherwise ‘dress up’ your favourite  jar of preserves with anything you like as long as it doesn’t damage the contents or break the seal.

* Send us a JPG of your creation to wearewellpreserved at elevenideas dot ca subject line: Pimp my Preserve.

Deadline Extended to December 6th at 10pm EST!

There`s a link way down at the bottom to all of the jars in this series so far..

Don’t mess with peaches! More fun Pimpin’ Preserves!

It doesn’t have to be holiday, or winter themed! I just needed an excuse to use this great cowhide upholstery remnant that I found at MacFab. When I found the little texas souvenir spoon it seemed like a perfect match. My grandmother collected these spoons, she had tonnes of them…now they are in my Mum’s possesion. It was fun going through the (50+) spoons….ranging from LasVegas, to Saskatchewan and PEI to California. There was even one from the St.Albert Figure Skating Club (of which I was a member a looong time ago). Talking about my grandmother and hearing about the spoons, a lot of which had been brought back by my dad from business trips or from holidays). This one also gave me an excuse to use some of the fonts in the wild west font pack I bought a while ago…i love them, but they have limited use for my clients

Come on! send me your ideas! You could win a great book…..

Here’s the Details:

* Embellish, package or otherwise ‘dress up’ your favourite  jar of preserves with anything you like as long as it doesn’t damage the contents or break the seal.

* Send us a JPG of your creation to wearewellpreserved at elevenideas dot ca subject line: Pimp my Preserve.

All entries must be received by 10pm EST November 29th, 2010.

For links to the entire series, look way down at the bottom and you`ll find a tag to each of the posts in this series.

Here’s hoping that a lot of you are spending this weekend getting ready for the holiday…and perhaps Pimpin’ some Preserves for presents…entries have been a bit sparse and i’d LOOOOVE to give away this fantastic book “Canning and Preserving with Ashley English” (it’s great for beginners and experienced canners will find lots of inspiration). We also have a copy of Ashley’s book on Keeping Chickens that we’ll be finding a home for early in the new year. Contest info is at the bottom of the post…I’ve been having fun dressing up some jars…once you get into it you just want to keep going…beats the heck out of going to the mall for presents and I’ve been able to repurpose a lot of stuff I had around. I promise, you’ll look like a rock star if you show up at a dinner party with a fully pimped preserve.

I’m visiting my parents, just over an hour’s drive north of Toronto, we got totally dumped with snow in the early hours this morning. The first snow is always exciting but this was like going from fall to full on winter in a matter of hours. I took a big long walk with my dad and Shaeffer this morning down an old railway trail through the country (part of the trans canada trail)…beautiful sunny morning, I forgot how a big hit of snow seems to dull all the noise…really enjoyed the quiet.

So here’s my Pimped out preserve du jour….inspired by snowy days. Nothing warms you up like Carrot Cake Jam….yum.

- I used the sleeve of a sweater from value village (someone had shrunk it up good for me!)

- some snowy decor pinecones were also found at value village

- got the tiny little string of lights from my mom, she has a big box of random things (guess i come by my collecting honestly)

- i did buy the little dear at a toy shop when we were out shopping yesterday, thought it would be a cute addition to a jar

- used a brother p-touch to make an adhesive label

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Here’s the Details:

* Embellish, package or otherwise ‘dress up’ your favourite  jar of preserves with anything you like as long as it doesn’t damage the contents or break the seal.

* Send us a JPG of your creation to wearewellpreserved at elevenideas dot ca subject line: Pimp my Preserve.

All entries must be received by 10pm EST November 29th, 2010.