giftjars

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— In Budget101_@yahoogroups.com, Rachel L

wrote:

>

> I have a number of baby food jars (about 14) along with some

plastic containers that baby food come in (nice small ones with

lids). Any suggestions for using them? I know I can use them for

small storage or paints… but looking for some other uses or crafts

I can do with them.

>

> Thanks in advance!

>

> ~Rachel~

>

>

>
.

> Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail.

See how.

>

I hope this helps you out with the baby food jars.

20 uses for baby food jars

If you’re like me, you hate to throw out anything that might be even

remotely useful (thank you mom!). Here a few ideas to get you started

using all those baby food jars. I’m sure I’m not the only one with a

cupboard full!

-Fill with dried herbs or potpourri. Cover the top with mesh and hold

in place with an elastic. These are great for putting in drawers or

closets!

-Great for storing buttons, nails, screws or beads.

-Fill with salad dressing for lunches.

-Fill halfway with water with a few drops of food colouring, fill the

rest of the way with baby oil and add a few sparkles if you want.

This amazes kids!

-Good for storing spices, herbs, teas.

-Paint them and make a candle holder! Paint them, or glue beads and

sparkles on the outside.

-Punch holes in the top. Instant house for a bug or other critter!

Kids can look at them and learn, without hurting their new friends.

-Punch holes in the top and fill with cornstarch or powder for baby’s

bum.

-Use for storing homemade baby food or leftovers.

-Good for holding finger paints and glues!

-Or touch up paint for your walls and furniture.

-Small mitten or sock drier. Just place the mitten or sock over the

jar and stand it up on the radiator!

-Make a small sewing kit to keep in your car, diaper bag, purse, or

in a drawer at the office.

-Paint the lid or cross stitch a cover with the words “first tooth”

or “first haircut” on it. Makes a great keep sake.

-Fill with shampoo, face cream, body wash, etc for use when

traveling. No more burst bottles filling your suit case with goop!

-Paint for the holidays! You can make a Santa, Jack-o’-lantern or

Easter basket!

-Use for starting seedlings indoors.

-Keep on your desk to hold excess paper clips, push pins and

elastics.

-Make into a musical instrument. Just put some coins, rice or beans

in them. Glue the lid on!

-Layer different colours of sand for a really cute decoration or

gift.

Have fun and be creative!

.

Things you can do with baby food jars

Don’t throw away your old baby food jars. Try some of these ideas to

recycle or re-use them.

Christmas Tree Centerpiece

candle holder ideas:

hanging candle holders w/ copper wire

starch & tissue paper

raffia bow – especially the little earth’s best labeled jars.

fill with a tea light or candle wax and wic. wrap a raffia/other bow

around the rim. give as gifts or use as place setting decorations.

adorable!

fish in a jar – paint one half of the jar blue so that if you were

looking at the front of the jar all you would see is the blue from

the other side. cut out a fish shape and decorate as you wish. then

poke a hole in the top of the lid and through the back of the top of

the fish. put a piece of fishing line through the fish and back up to

the lid. make sure it isn’t touching the bottom of the jar. tape the

line to the top and you have an adorable fish in a jar.

envelope and stamp licker – take a baby food jar. cover with

wallpaper to match office or work area. glue a peice of sponge inside

of lid, fill with water. cover lid with material to match and go

around the edges with ribbon. works great. makes a great kids gift to

give to working parents or grandparents.

silly christmas gifts

homemade gel air fresheners (platinum craft)

make a hanging “bitty thing” organizer – nail several jar lids onto a

2×4. Nail the 2×4 to the bottom of a shelf over your craft bench.

Fill the jars with nails, pins, bitty things you have lying around

and screw them onto their lids.

Use for paints and powders – Especially nice when mixing unique

colors.

Teddy bear gift jar – Tear up a small teddy bear – the baby food jar

will become his belly, so keep the arms, legs and head intact. Glue

the parts on the jar and fill with M&M’s.

Store spices – Especially great when mixing your own – be sure to

label the jars!

Sewing storage – Separate buttons by color or size and store each in

their own jar. Great for storing other small things – safety pins,

straight pins, snaps, etc.

Snow globes – Glue a small object to the inside of the lid – a

plastic figurine, f, etc. Add glitter, beads, or foil confetti, etc.

Fill the jar with equal parts water and corn syrup, add food coloring

if desired. Seal the lid onto the jar using a watertight sealant –

the kind used for aquariums, or the stuff found in the plumbing

section of your hardware store. Put a bead of sealant on the threads

of the jar and on the inside threads of the lid. Close it up, leave

overnight to dry. Kids love this!

Seed storage – Good way to save seeds from the fs in your garden. Add

a label (with a picture of the f).

Gift ideas – Decorate the jars and lids: Paint with PermEnamel

paints, cover with fabric, attach wooden shapes to the lids, make

clay decorations for the lids. Fill with gift items: bath salts,

homemade coffee/tea mixtures, potpourri, small candy, etc.

.

My dad would use these in his garage for screws, nails, washers, etc.

Many small items could be sorted this way and he could always see

exactly what he had. If they were different sized he just marked the

jar accordingly. He would secure the cover onto a piece of board, and

screw the bottle on and off of the cover. I am sure this could be

used for kitchen spices, sewing items, or any kind of small craft

items. We have used them for making “sand paint”. It’s easy to shake

up the ingredients, and then it can be immediately stored after use.

Many kindergarten, preschools and day care centers like to get things

like baby food jars. They sometimes use them to make projects to send

home, like planters for Mothers Day etc. Also baby food jars are

great for storing paper clips, rubber bands, etc. And finally they

are very useful for potting herbs.

She could donate half of her un-needed jars to a local girl scout

troop. They are always looking for that size jar for gifts and

crafts. Or offer them at church. Homeschoolers use them for art,

science and crafts.

Very clever organizers can be made from baby food jars and some spare

wood. A frimnd nailed the lids to a brick-sized block of wood

(inside of lids face out so you can attach the jar!), and then

mounted the block of wood to the side of his workbench, in such a way

that it could be rotated (looks like wooden paper towel holder). He

then filled the jars with various nuts n’ bolts and securely twisted

the jars back onto their lids, and just rotated the block until the

jar he needed to open was on the bottom.. unscrew the jar, use what

you need, and replace the jar on the rotating organizer. You can also

nail the lids to a board mounted under a cabinet, so that they hang

down like “space saver” appliances. I use them for storing beads and

other small craft supplies, but they also make good containers for

mixed paint colors, bug homes (poke small holes in the lid!),

jewelry, paperclips, whatever! You can’t open a drawer in my house

without finding something being stored in a baby food jar

Have old candles around that didn’t melt down right, or maybe are

just past their use life? Well I have made plenty of home-made

candles in these little jars, and its easy!! You can buy wick at any

craft store. You’ll need it, little metal washers (in the hardware

dept) to tie them to for weight, and you’ll need toothpicks.

Melt your old candles down (remove any excess wicking or debris from

the wax), or you can melt regular paraffin and color it with

crayons. I add a drop or three of aroma therapy scented oils that

appeal, while the wax is melting. Set the jars up before hand on a

old cookie sheet. To do this, measure a section of wick to be about

twice the height of the jar. Tie one end to a washer ring, and

measure how long it will need to be to reach the top of the jar. Tie

the other end around a toothpick, and suspend the wick in the jar

using the toothpick to keep it from falling in completely (like a

bridge over the top of the jar). Ladle or pour the melted wax SLOWLY

into the jar, making effort to keep the wick as straight as possible –

it will hang good anyway because of the weight. Fill to where the

jar just starts to crest inward toward the top. Allow to sit and

fully harden. You can do this with different colors too if you don’t

mind more than one melting session or have a good supply of wax

melting pans (I have one dedicated to this and other non-food uses).

If you want layers of color, just fill the jar part way with the

first color, and when its set, fill with the next one. Cut the

toothpick off, leaving about 2 inch wick above the wax.

You can just screw the lid on and you’re done, OR you can take

another minute, and cut a circle of fabric, about 1¸ inches larger in

diameter than the lid for the jar. I cut it out with pinking shears

for a finished edge. Brush a little glue (hot glue works well, but

Elmer’s will do) on the center of the piece, and set the top of the

jar upside-down on it centered. Allow to dry some. To finish off,

use a section of narrow ribbon, or whatever you have, to wrap around

the sides of the lid, securing the fabric around the top of the lid.

I have gone as far as to make little stickers that fir the round lid

top, like you would for jellies, or whatever. These make great last

minute gifts, thank-you gifts, decorations at a less formal wedding

or other gathering, or they’re just nice to put on the edge of the

tub next time you have a bath. I use a fairly large stock pot when I

do this (and still have neighbors saving their jars for me), so I

make maybe 25-30 at a time. The grocery store has boxes (that the

baby food comes in), which are perfect for storing any over runs you

have.

Here is an idea for those baby food jars. A friend of mine recently

had a birthday party for her son, the theme was Winnie The Pooh. She

decorated several baby food jars as honey combs using construction

paper, glue, and markers. She also put gold chocolate kisses inside

the jars and glued a bumble bee on top of the lids. They were then

passed out to all the kids at the party in place of a candy bag.

I have a suggestion, my mom makes Christmas trees out of them. One

string of lights strung through them, garland in the bottom of the

jars, and any other decorations you may want. Hot glue the jars

together in a triangle shape. Beats throwing them away!

Turn the jar upside down to make a snow globe. Unscrew the top (which

becomes the bottom and glue to it any seasonal item (little pumpkins

for fall, little flag for 4th of July, etc). Add some glitter and

then fill with water. Close it tightly and flip over so the top

becomes the base. You can even hot glue it closed to ensure no

leaking. Trim the bottom with ribbons or lace if desired. Makes a

great kid’s craft for friends, teachers, and grandparents!!!

Put a spice label on each one and put your spices in the jars. Nail

the lids in a row up underneath a cupboard and then screw the jars

into the lids. You now have a hanging spice “rack”. When you want to

use a spice, just unscrew the jar, take out what you want, and screw

the jar back up. Try to put the jars under a cupboard that isn’t hit

by direct sunlight, as this is not good for the spices.

Invest in some potpourri oil and soak some cotton balls in the oil.

Place the balls (some soaked in oil and a couple that have not been)

in the jars, place the lid on (poke some holes in it) the jar, and

hide behind things in your home. A nice way to fragrance any room and

can the scent can keep being added as it diminishes.

I had a lot of them and put a small hole in the top and then put a

spool of thread in the jar and fed the thread out through the hole.

I was then able to pull as much thread as needed from the jar. This

keeps the thread neat and does not get tangled. It is very

convenient.

Kelly in IL

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