Giveaway from Ball brand plus Can-It-Forward Day

Perhaps you’ve noticed that mason jars are having a real moment right now. Crafty DIYers are finding so many creative, alternative uses for them. If you don’t believe me, check out all the mason jar ideas boards on Pinterest.

I use my jars primarily for canning. I share my method for doing that in my posts, Tips for canning tomatoes and Canning tomatoes with dad.

Canning tomatoes

After the veggies are gone, however, my jars get repurposed. For example, I like to use them to hold pretty wildflowers. I’ve also created a holiday vignette with pint Ball® jars.

Ball-jars

And I’ve used the jars as drinking glasses.

DIY-Patio-table

I am definitely a huge fan of the mason jar. That’s why I’m excited to announce Can-It-Forward Day and also share with you an awesome giveaway from the Ball® brand.

This Saturday, Aug. 16, Jarden Home Brands will host its first annual International Can-It-Forward Day with special guest, renowned chef and Bravo’s Top Chef judge, Hugh Acheson. While the day is primarily to celebrate home canning via a live webcast on www.freshpreserving.com, International Can-It-Forward Day will also be exploring alternative uses for Ball® jars.

The event is taking place at the Brooklyn Borough Hall Farmers Market and, in addition to canning demos where viewer questions will be answered in real-time by Chef Acheson and other experts, there will also be segments on crafting, herb gardening and the brand’s new drinkware line. They will also be attempting a Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Mason Jar Mosaic.

Now on to the giveaway!

I was recently introduced to The New Limited Edition Spring Green Heritage Collection Jars.  

Ball-vintage-jars

Isn’t the color gorgeous? I am also totally loving the mason jar infuser.

Ball-jar-infuser

There is a little patch of herbs I’m growing along the side of our house. I packed the infuser with some fresh mint and am planning to make some mint tea this afternoon.

In celebration of alternative uses for Ball® jars and in support of Can-It-Forward Day, the folks at Jarden Home Brands want to give one of you lucky readers the following items:

  • The New Limited Edition Spring Green Heritage Collection Jars (one case of pint jars and one case of quart jars): These limited edition jars commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Ball brothers’ “Perfection” Jar and come in a beautiful green tint. These are being produced only in 2014.
  • 4-pack 16 oz. Drinking Mugs: Research shows people prefer drinking out of glass to plastic. These sturdy-handled mugs are perfect for entertaining and serving mocktails, cocktails or simply infused water.
  • Mason Jar Infuser: This sturdy, BPA-free plastic top fits on any wide mouth mason jar and is equipped with a hanging basket, which you can fill with your favorite herbs, fruits, etc. to add a hint of flavor to beverages.
  • Sip & Straw Lid: Fitting perfectly atop any Wide Mouth or Regular Mouth Ball® Jar, these easy-sip lids allow you to enjoy every last drop of your beverage. Use along or with the included reusable green striped straw for convenience on the go.

To enter to win this giveaway, simply leave a comment about your favorite use(s) for mason jars.

You can also get three additional chances to win by:

  1. Subscribing to Ball Canning on YouTube
  2. Following Ball Canning on Twitter
  3. Subscribing to Living Rich on Less blog posts

To get credit for each bonus entry, be sure to leave a separate comment for each action you complete.

This giveaway will be open for entries until 11:59 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 25. On Aug. 26, I’ll announce a winner.

So who wants to win?

Update Aug. 18, 2014 – To view the entire International Can-It-Forward Day broadcast that was recorded during the live event on Aug. 16 in New York, follow this link: International Can-It-Forward Day 2014

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136 Responses

  1. Wendy Green says:

    So many uses for mason jars, but I guess my favorite is we use them daily for drinking glasses:). Hey! I’m from the South, and iced sweet tea is just better in a mason jar!:)

  2. Wendy Green says:

    Subscribing to Living Rich on Less blog posts.

  3. Lyra says:

    I use them almost exclusively for canning. I have them for decorating at Christmas, though!

  4. Lyra says:

    I follow Ball Canning on Twitter 🙂

  5. Alina says:

    My favorite use for mason jars would have to be for canning. I love it! It’s something my mother-in-law and I do together every year.

  6. Alina says:

    Follow Ball Cannning on twitter as @AlinaConn

  7. Alina says:

    Already subscribe to Living Rich on Less emails.

  8. Sean C says:

    I use them to make desserts of all kinds. I have a book called Desserts in Jars.

  9. Sean C says:

    Follow Ball Canning on twitter

  10. Sean C says:

    Subscribe to your email

  11. Culeen says:

    So far we’ve only used them for making pickles and this weekend making tomato sauce. However, I’ve seen where you can get solar lids for them and they can be lights, so I want to do that as well. The possibilities are endless (thanks to Pinterest).

  12. Nikki says:

    My current favorite use is homemade salsa…delicious!

  13. Nikki says:

    How was I not already following Ball on Twitter? I am now!

  14. Nikki says:

    Just subscribed to the Ball YouTube page as well!

  15. Nikki says:

    Just signed up for your emails. As we work toward spending less I look forward to your ideas!

  16. Sandy A says:

    So many uses–drinking glasses are one of our favorites, vases of course, candle holders–the favorite list goes on…

  17. Patty Lucas says:

    I used mason jars just as food storage, flowers holders, glasses, etc. This year I learned how to can and so far I have made: pear jam, tomato & onion jam, strawberry jam, pickles, pickled beets and dilly beans. I am having a ball. My tomatoes are just now coming in so I will be making sauce soon too. I LOVE being retired!!!!!

  18. Bonnie Swanson says:

    I love to use ball jars to store button collections in.

  19. Bonnie Swanson says:

    I will be subscribing at my home e-mail rather than my prior email.

  20. Bonnie Swanson says:

    tired to subscribe on ball canning utube

  21. Jan P says:

    My favorite way to use the Ball jars is gift giving – flowers in a jar, mixes in the jar etc.

  22. Mary says:

    We use the mason jar to drink ice tea!

  23. Heidi Yeater says:

    My favorite use of ball jars is for canning green beans!

  24. Margot C says:

    I mainly use them for canning (I make lots of jam), but I also make vanilla sugar by putting the vanilla bean pods left after I take the seeds in a ball jar with sugar and have that for baking or for people to have with their coffee. It looks pretty neat.

  25. Margot C says:

    I subscribe to Ball Canning on YouTube as AnnaZed10

  26. Kitty says:

    I like to use mason jars for preserving and fermenting veggies!

  27. Carol says:

    I use mine for canning, drinking and centerpiece arrangements for the porch.

  28. Kitty says:

    I subscribed to Ball Canning on YouTube.

  29. Kitty says:

    I followed Ball Canning on Twitter.

  30. Carol says:

    I am a subscriber to your blog!

  31. Margot C says:

    I follow Ball Canning on Twitter where I am @AnnaZed

  32. Margot C says:

    I subscribe to Living Rich on Less blog posts via email to this box: annazed10 [at] yahoo [dot] com (or I do now!)

  33. Tina Stone says:

    I started using Ball jars about 14 years ago when I began canning. Then I started using them to drink out of way before it became “cool”. My household uses Ball jars for many things. We love the durability of them and the convenience of grabbing a lid and having the jar secured. No plastic! Reusable. I also have all of Ball’s canning equipment, along with two of the Ball canning books. Great product forever.

  34. Brooke says:

    I use blue ones to store and display my homemade laundry detergent and just bought green ones for canning salsa.

  35. Brooke says:

    I am a subscriber to your blog.

  36. Bridgett Junkin says:

    Following your blog already. I use Ball jars to can tomatoes which is about all that I can. My 84 year old daddy and I did this together last year when he had a bumper crop of tomatoes! I also use them to make “… in a jar” gifts for Christmas. Whether it be cookie mix, hot chocolate mix, pancake mix, all look beautiful in the jars.

  37. JessiJo says:

    They are the only glass we drink out of in our house! I also love to make and store my own salad dressings in them.

  38. Nicole says:

    I decorate with all my antique blue jars, store ALL my dry foods in ALL sizes of jars and use pint and half for our glasses! We love the new sippy lids on those when we are on the go too!

  39. Carol S. says:

    I use them for drinking, vases, candle holders, sconces and a multitude of other things. They are readily available and cheap. Love them!

  40. Carol S. says:

    I subscribe to your email feeds.

  41. Lynn says:

    I love mason jars for so many things; canning, vases to hold flowers, for decorating, for drinking, storing specialty flowers like almond flour, coconut flour and the pint jars as a ‘change’ jar for collecting loose change to save for something special. My favorite use would have to be canning.

  42. Maria says:

    My family is a huge fan of using them as drinking glasses.

  43. Maria says:

    I subscribe to your blog.

  44. Maria says:

    I follow ball canning on twitter.

  45. Kari Cox says:

    I love to fill them with fresh flowers and use them on my breakfast and dining tables. Thank you for the opportunity to win! 🙂

  46. Elle says:

    I store sewing odds and ends (ribbons, buttons, elastics) in ball jars.

  47. cheryl says:

    I use mine as a vase for cut flowers, as a pencil holder on my desk and kitchen counter, and as a toothbrush holder in one of the bathrooms. Plus the other usual suspects of canning and drinking glasses and votive holders. :o)

  48. Kim Cowgar says:

    My #1 use for Ball jars is as drinking glasses. Around the holidays though i like to use for crafting/decorating and to hold gifts.

  49. Kim Cowgar says:

    I subscribed to Ball Canning on YouTube (as Kim Cowgar)

  50. Kim Cowgar says:

    Followed Ball Canning on twitter (@celestin)

  51. Kim Cowgar says:

    Subscribed to Living Rich on Less blog posts (celestin at hotmail dot com)

  52. Kris T. says:

    I love using mason jars for storing bulk purchases of nuts, trail mixes, etc. They definitely beat plastic baggies! Thanks for the chance to win the awesome prize!

  53. Kris T. says:

    I follow Ball Canning on Twitter @krstrpp

  54. Kris T. says:

    I subscribed!

  55. Debbie w says:

    I love using ball jars for so many purposes”.but lately, I have been collecting different sizes to display the wooden spoons my husband sells at festivals. Would love to add green to my mix! Pick me!

  56. Debbie w says:

    Also, I subscribe to your blog emails…..again, pick me!

  57. Brittney says:

    There are endless uses for mason jars! A few of my favorite uses include, canning, vases, and drinking glass. There is just something about drinking ice tea out of a mason jar on a hot summer day. Gives it a little country ‘class’.

  58. Linda Smith says:

    I use for canning and storing dry goods. I have used ball jars for 50 years.

  59. sara haaf says:

    Is eating pickles out of a good answer? Because that’s mine, haha, I am hopeless at gardening and the like, but my dad always canned a ton and we had a full cellar.

  60. mbw says:

    I just canned and jammed 52lbs of peaches (of my own) and another 10 or so that my friend bought. We had a great time, so I would say my favorite mason jar use is spending time in the kitchen with friends getting in the harvests!

  61. mbw says:

    I subscribed to Ball on You tube…didn’t sen know you could do this before! How could my children leave me so ignorant?

  62. mbw says:

    I am following Ball on Twitter, and tweeted about my great canning day!

  63. mbw says:

    I have weeded a few of the blogs I subscribe to, but not Living Rich on Less..I read everyone, and pin most of them!

  64. Big Mega says:

    Love the blog post sis! As you know, we country girls use them to can veggies and jelly mainly, but I recently read in my helpful household hints book that people used them as vases for fresh flower centerpieces. Not just one however…THREE, all different sizes too, the flower arrangement looked beautiful! Oh and they recommended keeping your fresh flowers in your refrigerator overnight to add some longer life to them in case you decide to give it a try.

  65. Kristen says:

    I use them to store dry goods in my pantry.

  66. Kristen says:

    I follow Ball on twitter
    @rubylorikeet

  67. Kathie Craig says:

    My favorite use for Ball mason jars is Christmas gifts. From soup mixes to cookies, they are the perfect reusable container.

  68. Kathie Craig says:

    I subscribed to Ball Canning on YouTube as Kathie Craig.

  69. Kathie Craig says:

    I subscribed to Living Rich on Less blog posts as simpsonkathie@hotmail.com.

  70. MARTHA says:

    I like to put fresh cut flowers in my jars ….TY

  71. MARTHA says:

    I already subscribe to your blog and read it often !!!!!!!!!!! TY

  72. Lise says:

    I followed Ball Canning on Twitter.

  73. Lise says:

    I subscribed to Ball Canning’s YouTube channel. 🙂

  74. Lise says:

    I already subscribe to your blog posts and love them!

  75. Lise says:

    One of our biggest uses for the canning jars, other than those you listed above, are for our various spices and baking supplies. We use a lot of the tiny 4 oz and pint jars, with the plastic white lids in place of the regular metal ring and top. Waaaay easier to organize than a ton of tiny various sized spice jars from the store, especially since we buy almost all our spices, flours, etc in the bulk.

  76. Gale says:

    I bought dollar store stainers and cut out the screening to fit inside the jar rings and turned several jars into sprouting containers so I can be sprouting a variety of seeds at one time.

  77. grammygoodwill says:

    My favorite use of Ball jars is for pickles. I love pickles! I also have some old ones that I inherited from my mom that I use for flour, sugar, macaroni, spaghetti, etc. I also use some of those for decorations. This is a great giveaway. Thanks for the chance to win.

  78. grammygoodwill says:

    I am also an email subscriber. Thanks for the extra chance to win.

  79. Erin Ellis says:

    There is nothing better than a Ball mason jar for my raspberry jam. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
    Erin

  80. Erin Ellis says:

    I follow Ball on Youtube (Erin Ellis/fairyfractal)
    Erin
    fairyfractal at gmail dot com

  81. Erin Ellis says:

    I follow Ball on Twitter (@fairyfractal)
    Erin
    fairyfractal at gmail dot com

  82. Erin Ellis says:

    I subscribe to your email list.
    Erin
    fairyfractal at gmail dot com

  83. marjorie lavender says:

    I use my jars for canning tomatoes and home-made pickles and jellies. Can’t live without them! I collect the old blue jars for me.

  84. marjorie lavender says:

    I subscribe to Ball Canning on YouTube also.

  85. marjorie lavender says:

    I subscribe to Living Rich on Less blog.

  86. Vicki Bucy says:

    I use Ball jars for measuring, drinking out of an as containers for lotion and soap with pumps. They make really pretty vases as well. I also have a collection of beautiful antique blue canning jars.

  87. Vicki Bucy says:

    I already follow Living Rich on Less.

  88. Vicki Bucy says:

    Following Ball Canning on You Tube.

  89. Mary Keiper says:

    One of the ways I use mason jars is for its original purpose. I enjoy canning jams and tomatoes. Soon in September I will be picking my concord grapes and making homemade concord grape jam. Other great uses for the jars are for different rice I get, beans, flours, etc, for kitchen storage. Also, I make homemade personal products like deodorant, body whip lotion, bath salts and scrubs. So many uses for mason jars!

  90. Lori says:

    I love them for so many things from food and storing things – to painting them with mirror paint at Christmas!

  91. Myrna says:

    I use them for canning & drinking

  92. Beverly says:

    I love them for the “pie in a jar” recipes and to fill with candy and soup mix for gifts.

  93. Jodi says:

    I just love using them for almost any type of food storage!

  94. Jodi says:

    I’m already subscribed to your blog posts! Thanks!

  95. Jodi says:

    I’ve subscribed to Ball canning on YouTube.

  96. Deanna says:

    I like the gifts in a jar – cookie mixes!

  97. Brenda B. says:

    I love to make parfaits in mason jars! I also like to can with the jars.

  98. Brenda B. says:

    Subscribed to Ball Canning on YouTube.

  99. Brenda B. says:

    Subscribed to Ball Canning on Twitter.

  100. Sue Goodin says:

    I use canning jars for everything to stay organized, decorate and can.

  101. Sue Goodin says:

    I subscribed on you tube

  102. Sue Goodin says:

    I now follow on twitter

  103. Sue Goodin says:

    I am a blog/email follower

  104. barbara macaskill says:

    I love to use Mason jars as cookie ingredient gifts, drinking jars, and flower vases! They are so versatile that you can use them for so many different things and they look good doing whatever the task is!!

  105. barbara macaskill says:

    I am following Ball Canning on Twitter!!

  106. barbara macaskill says:

    I subscribed to Ball Canning on youtube!

  107. barbara macaskill says:

    I am already a blog follower!!

  108. Noreen says:

    Besides canning, I love the large ball jars to store my staples. I keep my flours, sugars, dried beans and such in them. I even made labels as many flours look very similar

  109. Noreen says:

    Follow ball canning on twitter
    @sillymommy

  110. sherri says:

    we drink from them, can in them and use them to decorate with. would love to try the infuser!!!

  111. Lisa says:

    I store homemade sauces, dressings, spices and even leftovers in mason jars. And on a hot summer day in the South, cold sweet tea in a mason jar is the best!!

  112. teresa says:

    I think I’ve used many of these over the years, but mainly use them to store legumes and bulk herbs and spices. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never canned as much as I make everything from scratch. It’s on my “to-do” list , so this might give me just the impetus I need.

  113. Abby says:

    I consider Mason jars a part of my décor! They have many different uses aside from canning. I keep a wide-mouth half-pint jar on the stove for bacon grease.

  114. Abby says:

    And I subscribed to Ball Canning on youtube!

  115. Mariangela says:

    My favorite use for mason jars lately is to make homemade yogurt in them 🙂 so yummy!

  116. Malissa says:

    I would love to win these.We just moved to a new state and made our first garden. We have loads of tomatoes and I plan on making many things to can.

  117. alex says:

    Making Butter!

  118. Julie Lee says:

    I have been using them to can salsa!

  119. Kaitie says:

    I’m excited to use them to make a chandelier. Just a wood plank with different level mason jars hanging off of them with lights inside! Perfect to hang over the kitchen table. But my newest idea is to use them as tiki torches outside on the deck!! Ahhh, I just love all the ideas with mason jars, so many possibilities (:

  120. Kim says:

    I love the look of Ball jars in my home decor. And the green ones are perfect for my home.

  121. Glenda Moore says:

    I’m from Muncie, Indana — home of the Ball family, Ball canning jar factory, Ball State University (graduate of!), Ball Memorial Hospital, etc. etc. I love Ball jars because they are part of my history!

  122. My Aunt Ruby’s Spiced Peaches recipe as Christmas gifts.

  123. I subscribe to living rich on less.

  124. Marissa says:

    For canning! Although you can’t really go wrong. You can use them for pretty much anything.

  125. nadine mahoney says:

    Summertime drinking glasses and candle holders!

  126. Birdiebee says:

    Wow, I have so many uses for mason jars but the one I use the most is to can stewed tomatoes and vegetable juice.

  127. Birdiebee says:

    I subscribed to to Ball Canning on YouTube as Birdie Bee.

  128. Birdiebee says:

    I follow Ball Canning on Twitter as birdiebee52.

  129. Birdiebee says:

    I subscribed to Living Rich on Less blog posts.

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