Mason Jar Salt Shaker

I suppose I'm like most Pinterest users...I've collected tons of ideas, but created very little.  I have made a few recipes.  (The microwave popcorn popped in a paper bag has been a favorite around here.)  Today I whipped up something super simple:  a mason jar salt shaker.  The Morton's salt container works just fine.  This is just cuter when I open my cabinet!

To make it, I emptied the salt into a wide mouth pint jar.  Then I used a bread knife to cut through the middle of the salt container.  I used scissors to cut out the entire top.  I placed the round top on a piece of scrap fabric and cut out the circle.  I outlined a hole for the metal dispenser and cut it out.  Then I simply put Mod-Podge on the cardboard circle and the back of the fabric.  I placed the fabric on the cardboard, and covered the top of the fabric with Mod-Podge.  I let it dry, and then placed it on the jar, secured with a metal mason jar band.

In Search of the Perfect Mug

When you have something that works, you don't give it much thought.  You count on it to be reliable and serve its purpose.  Until it up and dies on you.  Sometimes replacing a well-loved product becomes more of a challenge than you expected.  So what product did I have and love that up and died?  My mug.  Yes, a silly mug.

miGo Senja         

I'm not asking for much in a mug.  I want it to be stainless steel.  With a handle.  I want to be able to sip out of either side without the beverage dribbling down my shirt.  I want it to keep my beverages hot or cold, depending on their starting temperature.  I want it to fit in my car's cup holders.  I want it to be fairly lightweight, as I tend to walk around with it, and have arthritic hands.

For a few years, I had all that with my miGo Senja mug.  I loved that it had a blue lid and handle...I could easily identify my cup when I left it in the break room.  When the lid broke I searched high and low to find the same cup.  While Aladdin (who makes the miGo line) still makes some of the miGo products, this particular cup is no longer available.  Bummer.

EXCELSTEEL 116 DOUBLE WALL MUG

ExcelSteel     

So I looked at Target, Waldemart (the store that shall not be named), Fred Meyer.  I scoured Amazon, reading reviews.  On Amazon I found this cup, the ExcelSteel 116 Double Wall Stainless Coffee Mug with Silicon Handle, which looked identical to my miGo cup. It wasn't made by the same company, but I still had high hopes....they were quickly dashed.  The splash guard that covers the lid's openings just spun around, never clicking in place.  The drink holes were at awkward angles, making me twist the cup in a weird way to sip my drink.  One day I accidentally left this cup behind.  I knew as soon as I'd left that I'd left it behind.  I didn't go back for it.

• stainless steel ✓
• handle ✓
• no-dribbles down my shirt ✓
• easily sip from either side  FAIL
• temperature control SO-SO
• fits in car's cup holders ✓
• lightweight ✓
• comfortable to hold ✓

Aladdin Hybrid

ALADDIN 16-OUNCE HYBRID TRAVEL MUG
So my search continued.  Since I'd been happy with my Aladdin product, I picked up the "Aladdin 16-Ounce Hybrid Travel Mug at a local store.  After a few days of liquid dribbling down my shirt, I retired the cup and started scouring Amazon again. 

• stainless steel ✓
• handle ✓
• no-dribbles down my shirt FAIL
• easily sip from either side  ✓
• temperature control SO-SO
• fits in car's cup holders ✓
• lightweight ✓
• comfortable to hold SO-SO

THERMOS SIPP 16-OUNCE VACUUM INSULATED TRAVEL MUG

Thermos Sipp

As I was reading the reviews I spotted a mug that I hadn't noticed before:  the Thermos Sipp 16-Ounce Vacuum  Insulated Travel Mug.  The reviews were great...I even read some from former miGo fans who were also on the hunt for the perfect replacement mug.  Let me just say...I was (and am) quite impressed.  This is a darn good mug.

• stainless steel ✓
• handle ✓
• no-dribbles down my shirt  ✓ but....DEPENDS ON HOW IT'S FILLED
  
• easily sip from either side  ✓
• temperature control ✓  EXCELLENT
• fits in car's cup holders ✓
• lightweight NOT SO MUCH
• comfortable to hold SO-SO 

The best part of this mug, is that if you fill it properly, and push down the center lid button, it seals it.  You can hold it upside down without a drop leaking.  BUT...you have to make sure to only fill it to the lowest line inside the mug before screwing on the lid.  If you do that, you're good.  Anytime I fill it above the line I have issues of liquid seeping out between the cup and the lid.  But this is easily avoidable.   

This mug keeps cold drinks cold, and hot drinks hot.  Not lukewarm...HOT.  I have left it out overnight, and the next morning, there were still large ice cube chunks left in the cup.  When I put ice in a mug, it usually melts within an hour or two.  Not with this mug.

But, in order to have the vacuum insulated system, the lid is bulky and heavy, adding some heft to the mug.   This mug is definitely a keeper, but I'm not sure it will be my daily mug.  My hands are arthritic and the weight is an issue.  Bummer, because it's a DARN GOOD MUG.

ALADDIN SENJA TRAVEL MUG

****Aladdin Senja****

As I was using my Thermos Sipp mug, somehow I stumbled across the Aladdin Senja Travel Mug.  Hmmmm....it looks just like the miGo cup.  It's made by the same parent company.  Could it be that I'd found my mug again???!!!  Still mostly happy with the Sipp mug, I up and bought the Aladdin Senja.  I was wary after reading the reviews.  Many were happy.  But there were some miGo lovers who said that this mug didn't hold a candle to the miGo one.  Skeptically I bought it and have been using it for a week now.  The only thing that comes to my mind is........YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!   FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK IN MY LIFE!!!!

I don't notice any differences between this mug and the miGo one.  I'm a happy girl.

• stainless steel ✓
• handle ✓
• no-dribbles down my shirt  ✓
• easily sip from either side  ✓
• temperature control SO-SO
• fits in car's cup holders ✓
• lightweight ✓
• comfortable to hold ✓