Despite putting my best foot forward toward making my own baby food, I’ve still succumbed to buying jars of smashed peas and pureed peaches for handy food on-the-go. While all of our jars get recycled, it’s hard to ignore the quantity of glass or the art-making potential in these adorable little vessels. I allowed about ten of them to pile up before this project hit me. Not only do I like how they turned out, but it’s also one of those crafts that’s child-driven. And if you know me, you know that I like my art projects to be open-ended. If you also have a stack of these cuties in your dish rack begging to be repurposed, you might also want to scroll through the links at the end of this post for more ideas.
Materials
- Baby Food Jars with the labels removed
- Tissue Paper
- Mod Podge
- Paint Brush
- Scissors
- Glitter (optional)
Cut the tissue paper up into pieces. I cut a bunch of these ahead of time since I wasn’t sure how invested N would be in this step. But of course, she loves cutting, and we had a bounty of tissue paper pieces in no time at all!
I limited the palette to pink, light blue, and white with a red pattern (saved from an Anthropologie gift…lucky me!), and recommend this as a unifying strategy if you’re going for something seasonal or to match your couch.
I poured some Mod Podge into one of the jars and N mixed in some glitter for an extra-sparkly effect. If you’ve never used Mod Podge, it’s similar to white glue and does an amazing job at both gluing and sealing. Mod Podge Rocks is a fabulous blog that’s brimming with Mod Podge ideas.
We placed the tissue papers into clear containers for easy spotting. With a brush, my daughter painted glue on the outside of the jars and covered them with tissue paper of her choice. I didn’t want to miss out on the fun and made a few, too!
I was impressed when she came up with the stumpy-hand technique for covering the jars mess-free!
To seal them well, I gave each jar a goodly overall layer of Mod Podge before turning them upside down for drying.
We’ve been decorating our summer table with them, but given the palette, wouldn’t these be sweet decorations for a baby shower? Looking for Mod Podge? You can buy it here!
So, I know I’m not the only one trying to come up with baby food jar ideas. Tell me, please, what you’ve done with baby food jars!!
More Baby Food Jar Crafts from around the web
Fabric Tea Light Baby Food Jars from Prudent Baby
Tons of Ideas for re-purposing baby food jars from Making Friends
Gluing knick-knacks to baby food jars from The Mother Huddle
12 Ways to Re-Use Baby Food Jars from Chasing Green
Personalized Tea Light Holders from Radical Crafts
We made votive holders this way for Christmas presents one year, but I didn’t have any baby food jars that year. Little snow globes are fun, too. The jars I still have kicking around, though, I tend to use to hold paint. 😉 I never had many baby food jars because only my middle kid had any interest in it, and it was a brief phase.
(And there is NO JUDGING about buying baby food. It’s FINE. No need to justify or explain!!!)
Thanks for the “no judging” comment, Amy. I think I’m becoming overly sensitive since I occasionally receive a comment that questions my decision-making. But I guess that’s part of the fun of blogging! We’re almost done with the baby food phase, so I may have to squirrel some away for the holidays.
I love baby food jars! I beg my friends or them! We make candle holders like this every solstice/Christmas. We use tissue paper and watered down glue. They are so beautiful lit. I have also made them with wide mouthed salsa jars – that is a good shape too, if you run out of the baby food jars.
Of course! Watered down glue is a wonderful way to go too. Thanks for mentioning this, Amy. And any glass jar would be the perfect substrate for this project.
We have made candle holders too in the similar way, but just using school glue. Some of them ended up as gifts to friends! I also use them to store spices, to hold paint, buttons etc.
I’ve used them for the same purposes, Roopa. Thanks for chiming in!
Those are really beautiful! I agree with Roopa….they make great paint containers! They make great storage for hardware like screws, small nails, etc. You could also paint on the outside of them with glass paint for a candle holder too! When I young we would make candles (with melted wax) in them.
I’d love to try making candles in these jars, Melissa. I’ll have to make some room to save more of these, I guess 🙂 Thanks for the idea.
Thank you for this post. Its a cold and wintery day here in Melbourne, this should keep my 2 girls busy for a little while this afternoon.
I hope you all had a cozy, fun time, Sharon!
Thanks, Rachelle. I’ve encountered the exact same situation you have and was trying to think of a way to repurpose our jars. I’ll try it out. Thanks for the great idea! Susan
I know, the jars can pile up quickly! I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did, Susan. Thanks for the comment.
these are awesome! gotta love love love that anthro tissue paper! i hang onto mine, too! i have been seriously considering buying baby food jars for an art project this past month, but can’t bring myself to do so. if you ever have any spare baby food jars, let me know and maybe we can do a project and post together… i’ll supply the other materials 😉
Isn’t that paper lovely, Jen? Once I’m done making candles, Christmas votives, and storing my spices, I’ll save some jars for you too! 🙂 That would be fun.
Love this idea! We still have a ton of jars waiting to be used. My kids love making music, so one of our favorite projects is making rock candy maracas: https://tinkerlab.com/2011/02/25/shake-it-up-rock-candy-maracas/.
Thanks for sharing this great idea 🙂
Your project’s been Candoodled! I love it. So I’ve shared it…
http://candoodles.blogspot.com/2012/06/repurpose-baby-food-jar-craziness.html
hello! i love the idea of using the jars. i work in a nursing home and it would be wodnerful for our people to do as craft. 1 question, the glitter, can you give a detail list of instructions on the use of the glitter. i am still puzzled about the use.
thanks
jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
We mixed the glitter into the mod podge, the same way you might mix sugar into your coffee. Doe that help?
Rachelle
hello!
we will try it. i will tell my boss about it. it’s like a shot of glitter, right? thanks
jennifer
Just a few shakes. I would test it out before presenting it to your clients, just to make sure you’re comfortable with it. Since you’re in a nursing home, simply working with mod podge and tissue paper may be enough. You can buy tissue paper that has glitter infused into it, which may be a good alternative.