Best of Finds/Worst of Finds

I started out on task this morning, retrieving old bottles and jars from the garage and washing them up in the kitchen sink.  I am gathering old stuff for the decor at my daughter's wedding.  Her Pinterest wedding board my inspiration,  wedding prep crunch time my motivation. 

Old mason jars, mostly blue, but one a pale green, a bear-shaped jar, and wait!  What's this?  An old Beechnut Coffee Jar.  It's the best!  Why?  Because it still has the label!  How I admire the vintage graphics of old labels.  But, wait - oh no!  It's the worst!  How can I preserve this fragile little thing?  Especially since it is so dusty and dirty.  And, it's all but fallen off.  I bite the bullet,  peel it off the rest of the way, pick up all the stray pieces and head inside.




That's when I remember my trusty scanner.  I wonder if she is in the mood to cooperate today? (My printer/scanner and I have a love/hate relationship.)   I carefully lay out the pieces of the label on my scanner.  Now the games begin.  Set it up...."not found" messages.....turn it off....turn it on....try again....you get what I mean.   Eventually she decided to cooperate (at this point I cannot resist saying she reminds me of my child rearing days). 










I scan the label in color, carefully cut it out with my Exacto knife (actually, I started out carefully and then just went for it).  But now what?  I have white spots on my label because there were holes in the original.  That doesn't look very vintage!








Eureka!  This morning's coffee grounds!  (Does anyone else see the irony?)  I set it outside to dry a little.  I think next time I should do the coffee grounds first, then cut it out. 

Here's the three labels.  The top is the scanned copy uncut.  The middle is the scanned copy cut and stained.  The bottom is the original.  The original is undeniably the best, and I'm not convinced the coffee grounds are the answer.  At least the image is preserved and available for future use.  And I had fun on my journey of label preservation. 

I used double sided tape to adhere the reproduced label so that I can take it off and wash the jar in the future.  As a side note, what about the polka dotted rust patina on that lid?  Fabulous!

I am not sure what I will do with the original label.  Every time I touch it another piece breaks off.  I can tell you this....I won't throw it away.  Not yet.