Jelly all gone? Put the jars to another use

As a follow-up to the Jan. 7 column, in which we recycled old salt and pepper shakers into new photo holders, this week’s column will focus on recycling old jelly jars into new – you guessed it – salt and pepper shakers.

It seems like we go for years without having jelly or jam, but sometimes around the holidays we get a few jars as gifts and decide that it tastes pretty good on our morning toast. For several months after, we stalk the jam and jelly aisles and are unable to resist some of the nifty jars that house the sweet spreadables.

Inevitably, we end up with a half-dozen or so empty jars that we’ll surely use for something someday.

This year, while rummaging through our cupboards for other items, we found a stash of jars from a couple of years back and felt that this was a good time to recycle them. Salt, pepper and cheese shakers came to mind.

To make shakers such as our samples, you’ll need clean jars with lids, some fabric and trimming scraps, decoupage medium and a hammer and awl.

Begin by painting or covering the lids.

We tried using some gold craft paint on the lids for our tropical and bear shakers, but it just wouldn’t cover well enough even after four or five coats. A good base coat or primer would likely have solved the problem, but when working on our recycle projects, we try to go with materials we have on hand.

Instead of the gold paint, we used black paint and decoupaged fabric, both of which worked out well.

When your lid cover of choice is completely dry, punch holes in the lid with a hammer and awl. You’ll have to punch the holes after applying the decoupaged fabric, but you can punch holes first and then paint the lid if you choose. The only problem you may encounter is that the paint will fill the holes and you’ll have to reopen them.

After punching the holes, turn the lid upside down and gently tap the wrong side of the holes with the hammer to smooth them out. Again, you may have to reopen the holes a bit with the tip of the awl, but it’s better not to have super-jagged edges on the inside of the lid.

If you’re making a cheese shaker, make the holes large; for salt and pepper shakers, keep them small.

Next, cover the body of the jar with your fabric (or paper) of choice using decoupage medium.

We chose a tropical print in two colors for one salt and pepper set, a frolicking-bears print for the three-piece set, and a shamrock print for the single cheese shaker – in case you plan to serve a nice green pasta dish for St. Patrick’s Day. (What can we say? We weren’t thinking clearly.)

Cut a piece of fabric or paper to fit the area you want to cover and secure it in place with the decoupage medium. Apply a couple of coats so that it’s well sealed.

If using fabric, you might want to use pinking shears to cut the piece to avoid fraying around the edges.

You can cover the entire jar if you like, but we left a little bit of clear glass on our shakers to leave the contents visible.

When the decoupage medium has dried completely, add a decorative trim if desired to finish the shakers.

If you fill the shakers to present them as gifts, be sure to put a small piece of waxed paper or cling wrap over the top of the jar before replacing the lid to avoid spillage.

What you’ll need