let your light shine in

i clearly have lighting on the mind this week (see lampshade lady post below), so while i apologize for the random theme, we need to talk for just a minute about how fabulous these light fixtures are. the crew at burlington's conant metal & light creates one of a kind beauties out of "everything from insulators, antique flashlights, paint cans, fire engine lights, drink shakers, and soda and wine bottles" and while they are all fabulous, you know i have a soft spot in my heart for the one made of a mason jar. and i am not alone in my love for this particularly iconic creation - soon after the doors of farmhouse tap & grill opened, where 10 of these lights hang, demand went through the roof!

so now, to keep up with demand, they need our help because they are running out of jars. so, here's the deal: for every jar people bring into the store before the end of the month, the shop will give one dollar to the vermont foodbank and enter the donors into a raffle for store discounts. “we’re hoping for 1000 canning jars and $1000 to the foodbank by July 31,” conant says. “if there’s a take-home message in this,” he notes, “it’s that the national farm-to-table movement has residual effects: local manufacturers benefit, too, not just farmers.”

so, ladies and gents, get your old canning jars out and head on down to pine street! it's all about keeping your mason jars, lighting fixtures and food local.