Light the Way

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 4,819 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—6,550 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Being a girl who likes some twinkle in her life, a little sparkle, some bling if you will, I was excited to try my very own * drum roll, puhleeze! * …

Outpost Chandelier! (Merit Badge Madge, specifically, beginner level for Make It Easy, Light The Way.)

That’s right, chickadees, nothing says glam like a chandelier, and putting it outside, to shine and glimmer for an evening picnic? Oh my. Perfection with just some fencing, candles, and baby-food jars!

Now before you start jumping to conclusions about me doing any procreating, simmer down and let me tell you, my bestie, Midge, has a collection from her triplets that would put the Gerber company to shame. Seriously, I think we could make everyone in town an outpost chandelier and still have enough left over to store my glitter collection (also extensive).

So, with my jars in hand, and not one, but two pairs of pliers (needle-nose and wire-cutting … look at me, all tool know-how-y!) and a lovely piece of rusty old fence webbing, I was ready to start.

For your chandelier, by the way, you’ll need about six baby-food jars and a 40”-long section of fence webbing.

First things first, I tied up my long locks and removed my nail polish. Some crafts are manicure friendly, others will really do a number on Posh Pink or Tahitian Rose—I speak from experience.

This looked like one of those projects that would either need gloves or nekked fingernails, and, well, my gloves are more the stylin’ type and less the work type.

I wound, I snipped, I tied, I arranged and rearranged. I felt like getting my own home-improvement-type reality show by the time my chandelier was hung. And where did I hang my lovely creation, you may ask? Just ask my scraped knees—they’ll tell you when they stop whimpering. From my apple tree, over the wrought iron patio table!

Seriously, my backyard could be the cover of a magazine, it’s that pretty. Gorgeous, in fact. It was the perfect spot for a winter picnic, if I do say so myself, so I invited Midge and the kids over for some roast chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, and hot cocoa the next day. I was keeping my menu child friendly, you see, but they’ve gotten pretty sophisticated in their old(er) age. They even asked for mint jelly for their chicken and Cajun seasoning for their noodles. Their palates have come a long way from their baby food days, and they were suitably impressed that relics from their strained plums, green beans, and whirled peas jars could be upcycled into something so chic! Whirled peas … envision that day (giggle, giggle).

“Just wait until you see what I’m going to do with all your old diapers,” I said in mock innocence, as their cute little faces looked on in horror.

Ha! Just kidding.

I think.

Though I am in need of quilt batting … nah. Never mind. Even recycling can be taken too far.