Project Less Waste: DIY Decorative Jars

Even when my recycling habits were on the skids I would still set a lot of items aside to be reused or repurposed. My favorite thing to hold on to is glass jars/bottles. I can just see all the potential they have to live on to be something else. For months I wanted apothecary jars for my bathroom to organize little odds and ends that I use regularly in a visually appealing manner. Even before my project started last year, I knew I did not want to shell out money to buy new ones from a store, especially when I had so many great jars on hand already. During a reboot of an old desk last fall, I picked up several unique drawer knobs while I was out buying one for that project. I’ve seen so many fun DIY projects utilizing knobs so I knew picking up a few more than I needed wouldn’t be a bad idea. Turns out I was right as they became the perfect fixture for these decorative storage jars.  

With just a little paint and a cute drawer knob, you can turn any old food jar into a unique storage piece for your home!

What you need:
– Acrylic paint
– Modge Podge
– Drawer knob
– Paint brushes
– Drill with 1/4″ and 3/8″ bits
– Bolt cutter

Paint each lid with several coats of acrylic paint, allowing adequate time to dry between coats. Any other crafters out there have the hardest time waiting for paint to dry? This is always the hardest thing for me because once I’m doing something I want to finish it. I found that if I plan my painting around several other to-do’s its a lot easier to paint a coat and step away. If I don’t, then I literally just sit there impatiently watching paint dry.

Once lid has 3 to 4 good coats (none of the original lid color showing through), finish with 1 to 2 coats of Modge Podge, again allowing dry time between coats. After thoroughly dried, its time to drill some holes!!

Since I don’t know my way around a power tool as well as I do a paint brush, I had the hubs help me with the drilling step. For all of the drawer knobs, a 1/4″ drill bit worked to create the hole. We then used a 3/8″ drill bit to smooth down the jagged edge around it.

Secure in place the knob and trim off excess “stem” using a bolt cutter.

I am so happy with how the jars turned out! I love the way they look in my bathroom and finally having easy countertop access to the things I use on a regular basis.

Happy crafting!

xo, Erica