giftjars

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I have used the plastic ones to store bulk herbs in. I have a label maker and mark the container and store in my cabinet or freezer. Works great!

Kelly wrote: — 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

Diane in il

Mom to Caitlyn, Coutney & Kristen

DH Scott and Lab Lucy!

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