They are like cockroaches. They just appear. I think there are only a few but, upon closer inspection I see the truth: there are THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of tiny jars in my house! When my sweet (ginormous) baby boy started eating solids I was stunned that his food cost almost as much as mine! Did you know that a jar of organic baby food can cost $.80 or more? And a hungry baby boy can put away a good 6-10 jars of the stuff each day! So I did what any hippie mama would do and started making my own. Lovely organic squashes (Thank you Lawson and Bev for the 116 lb squash that we are still eating 9 months later!) and sweet potatoes and apples… all cooked to mush and frozen in my own kitchen. Lovely!
After an entire afternoon of cooking and smashing I had a whole freezer full of wholesome goodies. Awesome! We are good to go! Except… wait…. I forgot…. SIX TO TEN JARS A DAY. Crap. I was out of food again. OK. Just this ONCE we’ll buy a few jars to get us through these next few busy days until I have time for more cooking and smashing.
And before I knew it I had a garbage bag full of tiny jars. I COULD just throw them in the recycle bin. But they’re so CUTE! And it seems like they could be used for something. I mean… they have lids and everything. I tried to give them away on freecycle (freecycle is a post for another day – it’s the single greatest idea anyone ever thought of. After pizza.) but I kept getting no-showed.
And that led me to this great website: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/crafty-uses-for-baby-food-jars-66154#comments
I know what to do with them now! Not only did I LOVE her ideas, she helped me realize they’d make perfect little jars for home-made deodorant, lotion, etc. I can use them to give samples of my nifty laundry detergent to friends who want to try it. And they’d be good little candle holders too (I’m thinking candle making 101 for a homeschool project on a rainy fall day).
So once we make candles and lotions for everyone we know, safely store my sewing pins, make a spice rack we should only have…. aw nuts! We’re still going to have THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of tiny jars. The idea for the garden path (see above website) was pretty awesome and that would use them up but, let’s be honest. I’m just not that ambitious. So do tell…. what ideas do you have for using these nifty little containers?
