 |
| 'Sunshine in the Meadow' 8x8 pastel ©Karen Margulis available $125 |
I love treasure! I love beachcombing and rockhounding and when I am not traveling I satisfy my gathering urge with visits to my local thrift stores. I have found the greatest treasures for my studio in thrift stores. In this ongoing series I will share my best finds. Today's find is probably the least expensive item I ever scored but one of the most useful...a JAR OPENER!
A jar opener is not just for the kitchen! I use it to open stubborn stuck tubes of paint, jars of mediums, glue tops, and whatever else I can't pry open. It came in handy a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to open an old jar of gesso in preparation for a workshop. It was impossible to open. I tried hot water, wrapping a rubber band around the lid and even one of those rubber round things. Nothing was working.
Then I remembered the jar opener I bought at a recent thrift store adventure. With one twist that stubborn lid was open and my workshop was back in business! I have since used it several times with great success. The best part is that I had purchased the jar opener for only 50 cents! I almost didn't buy it because I was being thrifty but it is the best 50 cents I have spent for my studio! If you really want one and don't want to get lucky at thrift store you can find the jar opener on Amazon.
What second hand finds have you found for your studio?
I've found that a nutcracker/lobster cracker (the small hinged metal kind) works wonderfully for opening tubes of paint, and they're nice to keep in a plein air kit. They wouldn't fit around a larger jar of gesso though. Glad your find helped you out!
ReplyDeleteI used to have one of these and loved it. I have trouble even with ordinary lids, once it's been cemented with paint or gesso in threads it's impossible. It gets embarrassing for a grown man to have to hand off jars and bottles to his daughter to open. That tool is a lifesaver. Thanks for providing the Amazon link!
ReplyDeleteI use a nutcracker, and for watercolors, if all else fails, I run the tubes under hot water until some of the paint dissolves around the lid.
ReplyDelete