Food Storage DIY

Here's a DIY storage project I came up with while organizing my pantry.




 My pantry is a hot mess of cans, bottles, boxes, and bags.

Dave and I cannot find anything in there. Often times we end up buying things we already have and wasting a ton food.

Something had to be done.

I like glass containers and mason jars so I went to the store. I mean, how expensive can an empty jar be, right? Well I found out they aren't cheap.

At Target glass containers run anywhere from $5 to $20. At Michael's one mason jar cost between $4 to $5.* A large glass container could set you back $34!

My first solution was to go to the thrift store. There I got three large containers for a total of $7.50. One of the jars is a gorgeous white porcelain treats jar with a black lid.

I wish I could find a few more containers just like that one. Since I couldn't, I decided to replicate that look with some of the food jars around the house.

I began by removing the labels from all the jars and cleaning them. Quick tip: remove adhesive and ink from the jars' exterior with nail polish remover. Then I set aside the lids.

I painted only the exteriors of the jars with a non-toxic acrylic paint. I put three coats of paint on the jars until they were opaque. Then I spray-painted the lids a semi-glossy black.

Next I added a chalkboard label with adhesive stencils and chalkboard paint.

I've found that the paint almost always got under the stencil so be prepared to clean up the image with a fine brush. 

Finally this is what the finished product looks like:

What do you think of this DIY project? Share the creative, thrifty storage solutions you are using in your pantry in the comment section below.

*Those were the prices I encountered when I first started this project. I think if you go the Michael's website now you may find mason jars for $2 to $3 each.

This post was featured here: