The days of recycling meaning heading to your local bottle bank to dispense of your empties is long gone. Nowadays recycling has become somewhat of an art form, with interesting and innovative new uses for everyday items coming about all the time. While a popular use for empty jam jars used to be to filling them with more jam, there really are more options than that. From snow globes to lamps, it’s a wonder what you can do with an empty jar and one or two other items you can find lying around the house, or even the garden. Who said home furnishings had to break the bank?
Candle Holder
Brilliant for creating ambience, a jar can act as a perfect candle holder. By adding paint or stencils to the outside of the jar, you wouldn’t be able to tell its original purpose.
Terrarium
Bring the great outdoors inside and create your very own Eden in a jar. With a little soil or sand and a few bits of greenery, you can create an excellent adornment for any window sill.
Vase
Keeping with the green fingered theme, a big enough jar makes an excellent home for flowers and due to its size is ideal for window sills.
Snow Globe
With the festive period fast approaching, add a touch of sparkle to your sill with a snow globe. Its easy to make nature means this a perfect activity for all the family on a wintery afternoon.
Scent Jar
We’ve done ambience, now we have aromatic. Adding your choice of herbs, spices or fruit to a jar of simmering water creates a lovely scent jar. Not only will this add a rustic feel to any display but it will also fill the room with lovely aromas.
Glowing nightlight
Perfect for young children, painting a jar with glow in the dark paint creates a cheap and cheerful nightlight. Place one on the window sill of your child’s room or perhaps use several to give a unique touch to a party.
Soap Dispenser
From the bedroom to the bathroom, with the addition of a pump and some paint you can create a reusable soap and lotion dispenser.
Storage
Keep all your bits and bobs in one place. It’s simple but effective and all you need is a jar and a dash of creativity.
Oil lamp
Light up even the darkest of evenings with an oil lamp. Using just three items you can create a handy tool for power cuts, as well as for general day to day use.
Photo frame
It might seem a bit unorthodox, but an upturned jar can make the ideal home for a photo. Simple but effective, these make an excellent addition to any room of the house.
Who knew you could do so much with such an ordinary item? So, next time you’re scraping the last of the jam from the jar, just think of what you could do with it next. I guarantee you won’t look at an empty jar in the same way again.
Do you have any other interesting uses for empty jars? If so, we’d love to hear them.
This post was written exclusively for Topdreamer by Peter Badger of Made to Measure Blinds, a supplier of quality custom blinds.
