Chalkboard Kitchen Jars

I've been collecting random glass jars for a while.  Anything from jam to salsa,  tomato sauce to pickle.  I have a special place in my heart for glass. It is too useful to just get rid of and I’ve always rationalized that I’ll keep them for storage some day. Then, gasp, I actually did use them and gasp again, I combined my love of glass jars with my lust for chalkboard paint.  (Remember the chalkboard fridge)

Here is what else you'll need to finally make use of all those jars you’ve been saving:

• Jars with lids
• sandpaper
• newspaper
• chalkboard spray paint
• chalk

I took off all the lids and scuffed them up a bit with the sand paper so the spray paint would adhere better.




After laying out some newspapers in the back yard, I sprayed a couple coats waiting about 20 minutes between each.  Make sure to get the sides coated as well.  You do want to make sure to do this in a well ventilated area or I can’t guarantee that you’ll be writing legibly or coherently by the end of the spraying process.

While the lids dried, I washed out the jars with hot soapy water with a tiny bit of bleach to get rid of any traces of what was previously in the jars.  After about a day to let the lids and jars dry thoroughly, I filled and labelled.  Best part is nobody knows about my atrocious spelling because everything is easily erased ;)  I actually made these jar lids last summer, but with all the moving I haven't had time to get them out of the box…until now. We buy a lot of dry goods in bulk, and instead of hoarding a bunch of half used bags of rice and nuts clipped closed in an unorganized pile at the back of the pantry shelf, I’ve poured the contents into my jars which can now be labelled and dated if necessary.
It’s also handy that the jars can be organized a few deep on the shelves, but the labels are still easy to read.  No space is wasted on our already crowded pantry shelf.
A little something I learned after carrying this out, MAKE MORE THAN YOU’LL THINK YOU NEED! I’m finding uses for them all over the house: the bathroom for baking soda and Epsom salts,  the office for paperclips, my studio for buttons, and odds and ends, and of course the kitchen for baking supplies, nuts, dried beans and lentils, rice, and popping corn.
Are you a jar saver like me? What do you use your jars for?  What other clever items do you save for cheap storage?