apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I like this. Are there any suggestions for repurposing the lids or making them a little more aesthetically pleasing?

Ikea has these...cheap...and amazing.

I love re-purposing all my glass jars. For flowers, crafting supplies and dry foods. But I would like to find larger ones for flour, sugar, etc. Are they pretty big at IKEA?

I reuse glass jar all the time- Free containers! No bugs!
But to label a clear glass jar when what is inside is painfully obvious? "Cinnamon sticks", "colored plastic push pins", "ear swabs".... Really?
Was somebody concerned that a guest may attempt to sweeten a cup of tea with a spoonful of paper clips, and the home owner decided to head off this disaster with a labeled glass jar? Or are we dealing with early onset of dementia?

Hmmm...

Terrariums!

LOL warponey!

I snicker too at warponey's comment. In fact I would like to know the thought of all these DIY home decor blogs with people stenciling numbers on jars, other types of containers and though not within the realm of this post other items like counter stools, mudroom benches, coat racks...I don't quite understand that. (But then again I am having trouble grasping the chalkboard spray paint on everything phenomenon.)

Right now I have two 16 oz jelly jars for starting the cuttings from my philodendron to transplant later to new soil filled pots. You can directly use soil but the water version is just easy. (Yay for free plants!)

They're good for mixing craft-grade acrylic paints (think those 2 oz jobbies you get at craft stores) in to get your own custom colors so you can use the excess later and still have the right color.

fairydogmother - sand them down with a fine sandpaper or a slightly course steel wool, prime and spray paint. They will fit into your decor with no problem. Other options would be to decoupage paper or fabric on them too.

Old jars, bottles and even plastic condiment bottles are awesome for all kinds of things around the house.

warponey - I made purposely didn't label my vast array of glass spice jars, with the intention of "training" myself to learn how to distinguish between ground cumin an coriander, parprika & chilli powder, curry powder and turmeric, etc., by smell and sight.

It has *kinda* worked, after a few hilarious mistakes.

We've had a few close calls with the salt & sugar!!

Glad I made somebody laugh.
Yodge- that's pretty ballsy not to label spices, I'm impressed.
My grandfather washed my grandmother's salt, flour, sugar tins 30 years ago, then "refilled" them.
Turns out that using salt instead of sugar in a Thanksgiving blueberry pie is, um, worth decades of stories.

Jar sources? If anybody knows anybody that works in a restaurant kitchen, then you have access to awesome gallon sized pickle and olive jars. Not fancy, but utilitarian good looks.
And good luck with that vinegar smell.

Does anyone have tips for removing the sticker goo from jars?

Clampers - I soak my jars in a sink full of hot water until it's no longer hot, then peel/scrape off what I can on my own. (Sometimes I add a little bleach, but I'm trying to get away from that) Then, for the stubborn remains, I sprinkle on some baking soda and go at it with some steel wool. It's a workout, but worth it!

clampers - try peanut butter. It's a little messy but it works everytime!

I have to agree with warponey - must one label a clear jar? I doubt many people are going to mess up and sweeten their tea with buttons instead of sugar either. Unless you are sitting two glass jars with nearly identical items in them (as in sugar and salt), labels are a little ocd.

For those already making fun of comments, are you so out of it on a daily basis you would mistake a paint brush as a pencil or a button as a piece of candy? If so, you have much more to worry about then posting on a website - and probably should stop.

Love to reuse them for storage and as glass cups to drink cold/hot stuff :D

clampers: I put them in hot water for 20min or less I then scratch it out with a metal scrub. it always work for me.

I need to make some friends in the restaurant business :)

MOst restaurant jars are plastic, these days, safety factor. If you go to Restaurant Depot, you can find some things in huge glass jars, which you can either eat a lot of mayo or you can throw it away.

But I don't understand how you tote things in a glass jar, rather than a plastic bag? I'm not hauling glass to the farmer's market.

Thanks LizinCO! So simple!

Does anyone have tips for removing the sticker goo from jars?

Goo Gone is my "hero" because you can use it on many different surfaces and if you are like me, and like to reuse plastic containers, Goo Gone keeps you from marring the surface.

I've seen it at various stores but my favorite was seeing it at the local Dollar Tree.

How to get labels off?

After a few uses as leftover jars and the subsequent dishwasher run after each use, the labels are no problem. I might poke and scrape at one for a minute, but that's it.

You can rid stinky jars of their smells by letting the sun bleach it out over a few days.

One of my very favorite jars is a tall jar with many sides that I got from a restaurant I used to manage. It's glass, and is clear with a slight green tinge to it, and a black metal lid. If I recall correctly (I've had it for maybe 8 years now), it used to hold some sort of dark cherries (as opposed to maraschino). I use it for my linguine (for some reason I only buy linguine, I don't like spaghetti/spaghettini for some odd reason).

Wow, lots of parentheses...sorry.