Repurposed Jars

I needed two jars for my kitchen makeover. One to hold measuring spoons, and one to hold toddler utensils. Rather than going to some box store, or buying something new, I decided to reward myself for all of my hard work cleaning out, with a craft project. I pulled these jars out of the recycling bin.

The thing with repurposed or upcycled items is that they become a labor or love and a treasure. Remember that nearly everything on the market has been specially designed- for aesthetic and utilitarian reasons. When upcycling an item, you can play to those advantages. These are crucial steps in the recycling chain- reducing by not buying a new item, and reusing by finding a better purpose for something that would end up in a landfill. This is not necessarily a special project for a kitchen- it’s an example of a project that is accessible for a variety of reasons. These methods can be used on most surfaces, so let the juices flow.

First I painted the jars. I used a high quality acrylic paint. This is the type of paint that is $8 a tube. As a substitute, one could use semi-gloss or high-gloss household paint. Don’t buy cheap Walmart acrylic.

Then I added a band of decorative paper around the center- this could be anything, even wrapping paper. You can glue this on with tacky glue, Yes paste, or Modge Podge.

For this one, I cut squares, but any shape would do.

Then I added decoupage pictures. These could also be as simple as something from a magazine, or printed off items. These were images that I purchased online and had printed off, but one of my other favorite resources are publications by Somerset. Use manicure scissors for small images.

For the neck of the jars, I wrapped decorative yarn. Ribbon would also suffice, but would require a bit more glue to hold it in place. The drag on the paint with the natural fibers was enough for this project. Then I tied a small knot and cut the ties. They could have been left, or even beaded.

To help the jars stay in place on the counter, I traced the bottoms of the jars onto some felt, cut it out, and glued it to the bottom.

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