Do you collect jars? I know that sounds silly, but I collect glass jars. If you think hard enough, you’ll find mutiple uses for something so I try not to throw things away. I use glass jars for drinking glasses, kitchen storage, office organization, craft organizing, gifts in a jar, you name it–they are versatile and very pretty.

At the end of every week, I am washing at least three new jars from salsa, coconut oil, or some other food my family has devoured over the course of the week. So, I wash them out and set them aside for a new project.

This weekend, I noticed my stash was getting rather large, so I decided to make personalized storage jars. I enlisted the help of my sweet son. He’s always up for a good project.

We chose our jars from my collection and got to work.

We peeled off the labels from the jars and soaked them glue side down in some rubbing alcohol. Next we took a mixture of vegetable oil and baking soda and scrubbed the glue residue from the jars. Then we washed them in the dishwasher to clean them well.

Chalkboard paint was used to cover the lids and for labeling whatever we desire to store in our jars. I used my computer and my trusty vinyl cutter to make an initial decal in a decorative public domain font. Actually I couldn’t decide between two fonts, so I made some of each (it’s always nice to have a variety, don’t ya’ think?). If you don’t have vinyl cutter, you can order durable vinyl decals like initials and monograms made with outdoor vinyl here at Treasured Sparrow Designs.

After the jars were clean and dry, we applied the decals. Then my sweet helper put on the lids.

I just adore these precious jars and can’t wait to fill them with all sorts of treasures. Sssh! Don’t tell my family, but they may just be getting personalized jars like these for Christmas. Now I just have to find the time to organize my home utilize these jars…