10/12/2026
Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, and it got me thinking about just how much taking care of my mental health has shaped the story of Mason Jar Mayhem.
When I first started out with little craft fairs, this business was a creative outlet tucked into the spaces between teaching, working a second job, and earning my master’s degree. I needed something that let me turn off the part of my brain that was constantly thinking, analyzing, and problem-solving. I needed time to just create.
Years later, I brought Mason Jar Mayhem back and fully launched our Etsy shop and Facebook business page when I was freshly postpartum with baby #4.
I’ve struggled with postpartum anxiety and depression after each of my babies, to varying degrees. This time, we were still in the COVID era, I was working from home full-time, and I had a particularly challenging baby on my hands. I needed something that was just for me. Something that gave me an identity outside of being a mom.
I could play with glitter, make something with my hands, and create something I was proud of, completely independent of all my other responsibilities. For a little while, I could just be me.
And that’s what Mason Jar Mayhem has continued to be for me.
Through pregnancies, postpartum seasons, busy stretches, and many moves, this business has ebbed and flowed right alongside me. As we’ve grown and expanded into our workshop, it’s become even more than a place to make things. It’s a place where I can step away from the noise of the world, sit with my thoughts, process what I’m feeling, and simply exist for a little while.
I’m not sure where I’d be without it.
It gives me purpose outside of my responsibilities as a mom and wife. It gives me something to work toward, something to be proud of, and something that is entirely my own. There’s something grounding about knowing there’s a project to finish, a market to stock, or an order waiting to be created and delivered. Even on the days when everything else feels overwhelming, I can sit down and make something.
This postpartum season, I’ve given myself two daily goals:
✨ Complete one project in our home that makes it a little more functional.
🧶 Make something with my hands.
That’s it. It doesn’t have to be finished. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be something anyone else ever sees. I just need to make something.
Because sometimes, taking care of ourselves doesn’t look like a big, elaborate self-care routine. Sometimes, it’s finding a little piece of ourselves in the middle of everything else. It’s having something that belongs to us. It’s giving ourselves permission to do something simply because it makes us feel good.
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here. ♥️
Thank you for continuing to support Mason Jar Mayhem and allowing me to keep creating. Thank you for standing by during the seasons when my mental health has needed me to slow down or step back. Thank you for letting me be a little part of your stories through the custom pieces I’ve made for you, and for welcoming our creations into your homes.
You may be purchasing a handmade item, but your support means so much more to me than that. You’re helping me hold on to something that has been an important part of taking care of myself.
And if there’s one thing I hope you take away from this, it’s this:
Your mental health matters. Not just when things get really hard. Not just when you’re running on empty. And not just when everyone else’s needs have been met.
Whatever taking care of your mental health looks like for you, please make room for it. You deserve to have something that fills your cup, reminds you who you are, and gives you a little piece of yourself back. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and you don’t have to earn the right to take care of yourself.
Thank you for being part of our story. And thank you for giving me the space to keep creating mine.
