29 Awesome and Easy Ways To Upcycle Your Glass Jars and Bottles

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Do you wonder what to do with those leftover glass jars and bottles? Here are 29 ways to upcycle jars and bottles you have been collecting! Easy, inexpensive, and make great gift ideas.

You can make so many DIY projects with glass containers, and by reusing you are staying away from plastic jars. Whether you’re using clear glass jars or stylish glass jars, you can put a variety of sizes to work in your home. If you don’t do home canning, you’ll find these are perfect jars for many of these DIYs. It doesn’t always matter if they are regular or wide mouth jars for many of these projects. They are the perfect size for so many items, anything from craft supplies, dry foods, to oh so much more! You can find many of these for great prices as thrift stores, recycle your own jars, or buy them in bulk. No glass packing needed, the main goal is to put this great product to work.

29 Awesome and Easy Ways To Upcycle Your Glass Jars and Bottles Video

19 Great mason Jar and recycled jar ideas!

Upcycle your mason jars for a better way to store seasonings and spices

You can buy these black caps Ball Herb Shaker Lids for an airtight seal, or create your own by poking or drilling holes through the original lid.
 
I used a label maker to list what was in each jar. Or you can write on the jar with a sharpie.

Take an old Parmesan shaker lid and put it on a glass jar. This one actually contains the Parmesan, but you could use this lid and put your seasonings in it, glitter for crafts … the possibilities!

Turn a mason jar into a hand soap dispenser. You can buy the pump kit or make your own. Saving a pump out of an old soap container, poke a hole large enough for the pump to fit through on the original lid, and stick the pump in the hole.

It is really easy to use chalk paint and distress mason jars to give them a farmhouse look. You can see my full tutorial here How To Paint Mason Jars and Distress Them

Turn a glass jar into a coin jar. (Mine is holding pressed pennies, collected souvenir coins, and money from other countries I’ve visited. Buy a slotted lit or make a slot in your own lid.

Turn vintage or old jars into a memory jar. Put items from places you’ve been (sand from a beach, rocks, shells), or keepsakes you treasure in the jar.

Make recycled jar into a candle holder. You can find the full tutorial here Fall Candle with Leaves

Use glass mason jars to store things in. Re-use it in the refrigerator and put homemade creamer, leftovers, salads for lunch, etc in them. 

 You can find the tutorial here for my Simmering Pot To Make Your House Smell Wonderful

Upcycle jars into a gift. Cookie, cake, soup mixes, candy jars…Or make a kit – crafters, first aid, mani/Pedi… This one my neighbor made for us – super cute!

Paint mason jars and turn them into lovely fruit glasses. You can see that tutorial here How To Make Mason Jar Fruit Glasses

Turn an old jar into a fun drinking glass or use the lid and it’s a fancy container. Use E6000 to glue a candle holder to the base of a jar. Let dry and you’re done! Fancy it up a bit by adding a handle to the lid.

Glass jars make the perfect vases and water glasses.

Use mason and ball jars to hold supplies like q tips, cotton balls, etc.

Reusing glass jars is great, and you can make a photo frame out of a recycled glass jar.  For this one, I put a picture inside and added leaves from the day we took the pictures in the bottom. You could put the lid on to keep dust from getting in.

Upcycle old jars into a solar light. I took the top part off a Dollar Tree solar light and fit it into the lid. You can just set them inside, I have done that as well. Fill the jar with marbles, glass rocks from the dollar tree, whatever your heart desires. For this one, I put a bunch of agate rocks I had collected in it. Aren’t upcycled jars great?!!!

You can also turn a mason jar upside down and use it as a solar light cover. I made these mason jar solar lights for my walkway.

There are several ways to upcycle mason jars and here is my post that shows 3 ways to upcycle glass jars and turn the jars into soap dispensers. DIY Hand Soap Dispenser

Create crafts with your mason jars or recycled jar. Here is my Firefly in a Jar project

Turn a glass jar into a lamp by adding a socket attached to the top of a mason jar. You can see this mason jar light project here

Give a mason jar or recycled jar a makeover and create a thankful jar.

10 Ways To Upcycle Glass Bottles

Use a glass bottle as a vase.

Clean the label off and use a glass bottle to serve water.

You can also etch an old glass bottle and serve water out of it. You can find that tutorial here

Add some food coloring too upcycle a glass jar, and some cranberries. Put a taper candle on top.

Fill an old coffee syrup glass bottle with marbles and put a taper candle on top.

Add some glass rocks, water, and a USB rechargeable light and you have a bottle lamp. You can find my bottle lamp tutorial here

Fill a glass bottle with sand, rocks, shells, etc. and add a solar light on top.

You might love my recycled bottle into a message in a bottle solar light.

Create fun seasonal decor with a glass bottle makeover. I made these glass bottles pumpkins and added solar lights to them.

You might like learning about this glass bottle cutter to make even more fun bottle projects. 

Find out “What Exactly Does It Mean To Repurpose Or Upcycle“, save money, and create the most amazing things.

29 Ways To Upcycle Your Glass Jars and Bottles Video

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Learn more about “Why to Deep Clean and Organize Your Home” to save money, function better, and keep your sanity. 

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