Okay, so, I will admit it: I sort of have a repurposed jar problem.
I fell in love with this picture of a jelly-jar centerpiece on Simple Bites awhile ago. So pretty. So candlelit. So many jars! I did not, at the time, have a collection of jars, so I started saving some.
I would say I can stop collecting them any time, but I think we all know that’s a lie.
I mean, if I toss them in the recycling bin, who knows what fate awaits them–they could be melted down and turned into anything. A jar of sardines, maybe. *shudder*
But we go through a lot of jars. Jam, applesauce, olives, coconut oil, bruschetta, salsa. I have my eye on the jar of capers in the fridge, too, but those seem to last forever.
So now I have this stash. This… hoard. This ever-growing stockpile of glass.
At one point I may have even sent my husband to the grocery store to “see if there’s any food we want to eat that comes in cute jars.”
(That worked, actually. We now eat way more tapenade than before.)
I’m thinking I will start giving them away at random. “Sure, bring your kids over to play! And here, as a lovely parting gift, I offer you a half-dozen mismatched olive jars. No need to thank me, I’ve already put them in your car for you. That’s what friends are for.”
Either that, or I’m going to need a bigger kitchen table to hold this centerpiece.
Here’s how I get them ready to reuse.
I run the jars through the dishwasher, peel off whatever I can of the label, then soak the jars in rubbing alcohol. If you put a little bit of alcohol in the bottom of a tray, you can just plop in the jars and turn them over every once in a while until all the sides have soaked.
This is when I usually get distracted and wander off to make lunch or fix a lego disaster or convince the toddler that we do not lick the walls. By the time I come back, the rubbing alcohol has dissolved all the glue, and whatever’s left of the labels wipes right off. Short attention span for the win!
And now for the date stamp.
But argh, there’s still this sell-by date stamped on there. What to do, what to do.
You guys. I only have the one cleaning trick.
We’re going to scrub it with… rubbing alcohol! It’ll come clean in a minute.
That’s easy enough. Here’s what they look like afterwards:
Lovely, shiny jars! They’re taking over my house. But in a good way, really.
P.S. – After the jars, try this.
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Maybe life got busy and you didn’t notice yourself slipping away in the routines.
You’ve been doing the next thing and the next and the next, sticking to the script, meeting all the expectations, but you don’t know where YOU are in any of it anymore.
Or maybe you turned a new page, and things are different now.
You’re a parent whose kids are off to school. You’ve moved to a new place and haven’t found your tribe. Your work has shifted in ways you didn’t expect. Your latest project has wrapped up and you don’t know where to head next.
You need the (free!) Find Yourself mini course.
You’ll get five little lessons in slowing down, listening for the voice inside you, and figuring out who you really are.
