Lisa Thorpe

A Bright Idea for a Big Day!

My mom turned 80 last week (I don’t think she’ll mind me telling you) and I wanted to make something special. Over the years I’ve made her all kinds of things for her birthday, paintings, drawings, clothing, quilts, ceramics you name it I’ve made it for my mom in fact some of my very first artistic endeavors where probably gifts to my mom. So when you are a maker and your mom is turning 80 the pressure is on to come up with something good! I saw some solar cells that where attached to mason jar lids and I thought this could be a great gift.

So I gathered up the materials I needed; the solar jar lids (found on etsy), jars, tape, paint pens and I tried both etching cream and frosted spray. After a bit of experimenting I decided to use the frosted spray instead of the etching cream, it gives good coverage and is easy to use as well as being less expensive. I made a simple mask with blue tape and sprayed the frosting on. When it dried I added color with paint pens. I made a hanging bale for it with wire and my blacksmithing husband made tall hooks to push into garden pots to hang these lovely little beauties.

I’m looking forward to seeming them scattered among the flowerpots on my parents deck and patio giving a bit of sun-powered cheer in the dark night.