Reusing baby food jars
50+ Fantastic Ways to Re-Use Baby Food Jars
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50+ baby food jar crafts and creative ways to re-use baby food jars so you don’t have to put throw them in the trash.
If you’ve had a baby in recent years, there’s a good chance you’ve acquired quite a collection of baby food jars. Baby food jars ares so cute and chubby, and such a great size. If you’re like me, you find it hard to thrown them away. If that’s the case, your baby food jar collection could be growing at an alarming rate, and you’re probably looking for things to make with all of those jars.
Well, you’re in luck! One of my Facebook followers recently asked for ways that she could re-purpose her baby food jars, and the HH community responded with dozens of great crafts made with baby food jars along with practical ways to use baby food jars in and around the home.
I’ve gathered up their best suggestions and added a few of my own favourite uses for baby food jars, and I’ve come up with this long list of ideas for you.
From the craft room to the classroom to the bathroom and beyond, here are over 50 ways for you to use leftover baby food jars so you don’t have to toss them out.
50+ Baby Food Jar Crafts
Click on the links below to see project details.
Ways to use baby food jars in the classroom or craft room:
- Crayon Caddy: Paint several baby food jars and store co-ordinating, coloured crayons in them.
- Fill baby food jars with water, and set on the art table to rinse paint brushes in.
- Give each student in the class a baby food jar filled with cream, and make homemade butter together.
- Make a mini “ocean in a jar” in a baby food jar. Pretty on classroom window sill or fun to play with.
- Soak dried out markers in baby food jars to make liquid watercolour paint.
- Make and store homemade finger paint in baby food jars.
- Baby food jars make great paint and glue pots at the easel. Lids keep them from drying out between uses.
- Punch holes in the lids (with a nail) and use jars to store and dispense glitter.
- Make I-Spy Jars in baby food jars.
- Make collection jars for the preschool classroom.
- Fill with small amounts of water for syringe transfer work trays in preschool or kindergarten
- Paint tall baby food jars with food coloring, water and glue for a frosted look. Store pens, pencils and paintbrushes in them.
Things to make for kids with baby food jars:
- Play dough jars: fill several baby food jars with different colours of homemade play dough for a kids’ gift basket.
- Set some baby food jars out in the rain and make this scented rain paint.
- In the play kitchen: fill baby food jars with flour, rice, lentils etc. Glue the lids on, and kids can pretend-cook with them.
- Bug Jars – wrap a pipe cleaner handle around the top, and go exploring in the yard.
- Make these cute and quirky emoji jars for a kid’s dresser or desk.
- Glue painted toy animals on baby food jar lids, use as party favours.
- Fill with homemade slime or silly putty to put in loot bags.
- Make a tooth fairy jar.
- Teach kids how to manage their allowance with 3 tall baby food jars labeled SPEND, SAVE, BANK.
- Make an advent or countdown calendar.
- Fill baby food jars with layers of “coloured sand” (ground sidewalk chalk mixed with salt).
- Use baby food jars to make mini lava-lamps.
Ways to re-use baby food jars in the kitchen:
- Make magnetic spice jars to store on the refrigerator door
- Organize your spice drawer with baby food jars.
- Make Smore’s treats in baby food jars. Hand them out around the campfire or at a party.
- Make a window-sill herb garden with baby food jars.
- Fill baby food jars with condiments for camping or a bbq.
- Sterilize jars and lids, and reuse baby food jars for homemade baby food.
The serving sizes are perfect.
Gifts and party favours to make with baby food jars:
- Baby food jars make great wedding favours. Decorate and place at each table setting.
- These baby food jar lanterns were hung in a tree at an outdoor wedding.
- Make Lego Head Jars as party favours for a Lego party.
- Make mini calming jars for kids or co-workers
- Make a wish jars or dream jars for your family and friends.
- Give a gift of homemade bath salts or sugar scrub in a baby food jar.
- Make these cupcakes in a jar to give to teachers, neighbours and friends.
- Make a craft kit for a child by filling jars with pom poms, sequins, foam stickers, and beads.
- Hot Cocoa in a baby food jar: layer hot chocolate, shaved chocolate and mini marshmallows in a jar. Cover the lid with a swatch of fabric tied with a ribbon.
Other ways to use baby food jars around the home and garden:
- Store pony tail holders, Q-tips, and hair clips in baby food jars on the bathroom counter.
- Make a spill proof nail-polish remover kit with a baby food jar.
- Plant succulents in baby food jars to display on a porch or patio.
- Hang these colourful baby food luminaries from a tree in your yard.
- Baby food jars are great for storing seeds for the garden.
- Make Photo Globes by placing your child’s photo inside a baby food jar.
- Organize your spare change: each jar holds a different type of coin.
- Use baby food jars to hold paper clips, thumb tacks etc. on a desk or in a drawer in an office.
- Travel jewelry keeper for earrings and rings.
- A Mini sewing kit in a baby food jar is great for travel or the office.
- Fill baby food jars with Puffs, fishy crackers, Cheerios, nuts etc. Keep in the diaper bag for the kids.
- Nail the lids of baby food jars to the underside of a shelf to store screws, nails and craft supplies.
- Store several baby wipes in a baby food jar and keep in your purse or diaper bag.
Baby food jar Christmas crafts:
- Turn a baby food jar into a snowman Christmas tree ornament.
- Make festive holiday votive candle holders.
- Make sparkly tea light luminaries in baby food jars.
- Baby food jars make great miniature snow globes.
- Make Reindeer food for Christmas Eve.
What if you STILL have leftover baby food jars?
If you have more baby food jars than you could possibly ever use, even after reviewing all of the ideas, please consider giving your collection to a teacher, a crafter or a daycare provider. Most will be happy to put your little glass jars to good use.
Looking for more crafts to make with your recyclables? Check out:
Re-purposed Denim Craft Aprons
Re-purposed Denim Bibs
25 Creative Ways to Re-use your Keurig’s K-Cups
22 Ways to Re-Use Cardboard Tubes
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Jackie Currie
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans.
She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
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Mama Life Hacks {#15}: Reusing Baby Food Jars
Okay, I feel a little sheepish about this post because I feel like, after reading the title of it, you’re probably expecting a litany of clever ways to repurpose glass baby food jars.
Like for craft supplies or planters or organizational doo-dads.
And yes, all of those would be fabulous ways to stretch your baby jar use from one to many.
But the #mamalifehacks tip that I have for you is soooooooo much simpler–so much more DUH!–than that.
Here’s the thing: I like to make my own baby food as much as possible. It’s healthier. It’s cheaper. It’s convenient, since if I run out, I don’t have to hightail it to the store for more (assuming that I have the makings of baby food on hand).
It’s just so stinking easy to throw some sweet potatoes in the oven, then whip them with a bit of water in my Ninja into yumminess for Theo.
Still, I keep a small supply of store-bought baby food in the pantry for when we’re out and about or when I’m making dinner and need the boys to feed him without the hassle of retrieving, portioning out, and heating up homemade food from the fridge.
Because the only thing I don’t love about the homemade baby food is the mess and then the storage. When I make it in my Ninja, I typically either a) pull out the blades and then shove the whole container in the fridge, pulling it out and glopping some in a bowl as needed or b) scrape it out of the Ninja into a Tupperware container and then store that in the fridge.
Either works, but it’s not my favorite thing to locate a bowl and then fill it with food. Not saying it’s a big deal. Because it’s not. In fact, on the hardship scale–with 1 being: I stubbed my toe and 10 being: I live in a 3rd World country and don’t know where my next meal is coming from–it doesn’t even register.
And yet.
If I can find a way around it, I will.
Now, I know there are fancy blender attachments and Baby Bullets and whatnot, which allow you to store the food in small quantities, individually, but I don’t have any of those. And neither do I have any desire to buy one.
So, the other day, when the boys (aka: little hoarders) asked me if they could spirit two used baby food jars away for “projects” (I think we all know this is code for: something else to grow mold on), I happened to be standing in front of a freshly mixed batch of homemade baby food.
And as I held up the used (but washed) baby food jar, trying to think of an excuse for why Simon couldn’t take it to his room and then lose it under his bed for all eternity, it’s like Theo’s sweet potatoes spoke to me, and said: “NO! Take me instead!” #namethatmovie (this one’s harder than the Princess Bride reference from last week).
And so, the idea of reusing baby food bottles for the purpose of–hold on tight now–storing baby food was born.
I know, right? So brilliantly simple and obvious that I’m sure EVERYONE in the entire world has thought of this besides me.
Which means that I’m typing to myself.
Which is kind of a waste of time, since I was there when I had the original (tiny) epiphany and all.
But still.
As DUH (see? I told you) as it may seem, I am loving having tidy little bottles of pre-portioned homemade baby food in my fridge. No more Tupperware. No more big Ninja karafes taking up space. And NO MORE fishing food out of one container to transfer it to another container every time I need to feed Theo.
Oh! And I can now easily take homemade food with me (as long as it’s not going to sit in my bag for any significant period of time, of course). And then? I can toss the container! (Because who wants to accidentally forget about a baby food Tupperware container in your purse only to find a lovely fuzz colony in there a week later?)
I won’t blame you if you think I’m slow for only now figuring this out.
But I also won’t mock you if the light of revelation is just now dawning in your eyes as well.
Theo’s clearly a fan of my newest duh moment. Now, if only somebody would invent something to put around his neck to keep food from getting all over his clothes.
Joke, people! I know napkins already exist. 😉
Are you guys homemade baby food makers too? What do you store yours in? Maybe I’ve been missing out on something (else) obvious and simple all these years?
Don’t forget to share your #mamalifehacks so I can feature you!
How to use empty baby food jars?
Are you a new mother? Then, probably, glass baby food jars appeared in your life, which the hand does not raise to throw away. There are already a lot of them in my house, so I propose to discuss how they can be useful to us.
I conducted a small survey of colleagues and friends on this topic. The results are as follows:
Lena keeps her branded adjika in jars - it is convenient to take it in such a container for a picnic, for example.
Stores dried berries for tea.
He also arranges small tasty gifts for his friends - homemade jam. Arranges in jars, decorates them and gives them.
The last idea caught my attention - I like to make homemade jam. I took note of such a sincere gift option.
Zhenya keeps medicinal ointments in jars. Also a great option, given the odor of such drugs, as well as their small volumes.
Anya uses the jars as a sugar bowl and salt shaker on long journeys. Or for a picnic. She also keeps beads for needlework in them.
I tried to use jars for leftover canned cod liver. And this, I tell you, is extremely convenient. Open canned food should not be stored for longer than a day, and it is imperative to transfer food to a container, preferably glass. And the baby food jars are perfect! Small, hermetically sealed (which is especially important in the case of products with the smell of fish), and then it is not a pity to throw them away.
I also put paper clips in one jar. There was an open package at home, now the paper clips are neatly stored in a jar.
Inspired by the opening horizons for the second life of jars, I began to look for other ways to use them. I searched websites and social networks. I confess, I am delighted with the fantasy of young mothers, and dads too!
How to use baby food jars
Use jar lids in children's educational games:
- stick pieces of colored paper on them and arrange them in containers by color,
- stick drawings with letters on them and add syllables and words,
- make a slot in the lid of the milk formula jar (or in a box of chips, for example) and put the lids into it, like in a piggy bank,
- make a fishing rod out of a pencil, string and magnet and arrange "fishing", collecting caps.
Use cans:
- for dipping the brush while painting with watercolors,
- for seedlings of flowers or greenery,
- as small vases for small wildflowers,
- for storing spices,
- as a home air fragrance: put a piece of cotton wool into a jar and moisten the cotton wool with a drop of perfume or essential oil.
If you decorate a jar - it’s not a shame to replace the sachet and put it in a prominent place in the house,
- for needlewomen - to store small items such as buttons, beads, etc. in jars,
- use as a portion dish in candy bars that are so popular now at children's parties,
- colorize and turn the jar into a candlestick by putting a pill candle into it,
I found candle-tablets. It's a sin not to try, I decided. I’m not friends with paints yet, I found a satin ribbon. Half a minute to tie it, and voila! Modest, but also an option.
But finally I was subdued by such decor of the can.
Using a jar as a photo frame is original, isn't it?
And also, I think, it may not even be interesting to search for the use of jars or lids, but the process of decorating itself. Space for imagination, yours and your child!
How to decorate jars
• Spray paint or decorate with acrylic or stained glass paint,
• Paste over the jar with double-sided tape and roll in sequins or beads,
• Use the decoupage technique (stick a beautiful napkin with a pattern on the jar), since there is an abundance of materials for needlework on sale now,
• Stick lace, ribbons, fabric on the jar,
• Paste clippings from magazines or newspapers - looks very interesting.
• Wrap the jar with threads or decorative straws.
And then, together with the child, figure out what to put in a beautiful jar.
There is only one “but” in the active use of cans for various needs. Given the presence of a baby in the house, do not forget to check their inaccessibility for his ubiquitous little hands. Glass is beautiful, reliable and environmentally friendly, but dangerous. So, subject to safety conditions, cheers for jars!
Can you share how you use baby food jars? Do you leave or throw away? Decorate or use as is? Join the discussion in our groups VKontakte , Facebook and Instagram!
What can be done with baby food tins
The baby food industry is highly developed, as evidenced by the abundance on the shelves of supermarkets in the children's departments: all kinds of jars filled with a variety of purees and mixtures.
Mixtures are usually sold in plastic or tin cans, ranging in weight from 400 to 800 grams.
The jars have plastic removable lids.
Each mother left at least one jar as she used the mixture for the purpose of reuse, for example, for storing any cereals in the jar. But the potential for using such jars in everyday life is much wider than just storing bulk products in them. You just need to turn on your imagination.
The first step is to wash the cans, dry them and remove the existing labels from them. Further, depending on the intended purpose of use, the jar can be decorated.
Choose one of the following:
- Paint with acrylic or spray paint, one or more colors;
- Wrap with rope, twine, decorative cords or ribbons;
- Apply decoupage;
- Cover with decorative stones, shells, buttons or other details;
- Sew, knit or crochet a jar cover;
- Drill small holes in the jar in the form of a pattern.
You can also combine the above methods. In any case, the result will pleasantly surprise you: an ordinary jar will turn into a pretty vase or planter before your eyes and will be able, in addition to performing a practical function, to decorate the interior.
jar options
Organizer. The concept of "organizer" is quite extensive, and literally understood as the optimization of space for the purpose of convenience.
You can put pencils, pens, brushes and other stationery in a decorated jar of mixture and you will get a desktop organizer. You can fold toothpaste and brushes - a bathroom organizer is ready.
Or you can decorate the jar in the style of your kitchen interior, and put spoons and forks in it - now you are the owner of a kitchen organizer.
Planter. If ordinary flower pots are tired and you want to experiment, then feel free to get down to business.
It is enough to decorate the jar and drill a couple of small holes in the bottom so that excess water can flow out during watering. In this case, you will have to use a pallet. But for unpretentious plants, holes at the bottom can not be made. Also, these pots can be made hanging.
Candlestick. Drill small holes in the jar (it can be in the form of a pattern or some kind of inscription), you can pre-paint the jar. Place a small flat candle-tablet at the bottom of the jar. In the dark, the glare from the fire will play beautifully on the walls of the jar.
If the jar is small in size and you have a candle of the same diameter, then you can simply decorate the jar and insert a candle inside.
Storage of bulk products.
With this use, you can not decorate the jars, but simply pour food into them and put them in the cupboard. But you must admit, it is much more pleasant and beautiful to make themed ones out of ordinary jars.
For example, paint them in one color and then stick them on top of the card, or write with a marker or paint the name of the product stored inside: flour, tea, sugar, etc.
Gadgets for children . In the lids of jars, you can cut narrow longitudinal or round holes in the middle, give the child lids from glass jars, and thus get a sorter.
The kid will be happy to try to fit the right position of the lid to the cutout so that the lid gets into the jar.
You can also put various cereals into the jar and give it to the child as a rattle.
The main thing is to seal the jar tightly with a lid.
You can decorate a jar in the form of an animal's muzzle: draw eyes, a nose with a marker, and cut out the mouth hole in the shape of a circle, give the baby beads to “feed” the animal.
You can also build "towers" with your child from cans, roll them on the floor, pour water and sand into them.
Bird feeder. It is necessary to make holes in the jar so that the bird can fly up and peck at the food. Or cut off the bottom and hang the jar horizontally on a tree branch.
Storage compartments . You will need several cans, a sheet of plywood or drywall, a hammer and nails. Place the jars on a sheet of plywood, attaching them to the bottom, next to each other. You will get the so-called cells where you can put small things. They can be hung on the wall in the bathroom and used, for example, to store towels.
Lamps. Cans can be used to make wonderful stylish lampshades that can replace a boring chandelier.
