DIY: Chalk Label Spice Jars

by Elizabeth

I keep my spices in pint sized mason jars because I have a ton of spices and I buy most of them in bulk.  Over the years, we've slowly graduated from guessing what was in each jar (we spent a lot of time asking each other "Is this turmeric?") to writing the name on the top of the jar in Sharpie.  Then I had a flash of brilliance and bought some large circle labels from Paper Source and ran them through the printer, and oh!, they were lovely, for a brief shining time.  However they got dirty really quickly, and I had no way to change the names of spices when I swapped something out, and the lids couldn't be cleaned effectively, and eventually we had a bunch of dirty stained labels and the onion powder was in the jar labeled "cocoa powder" and the system was FAILING. 

However, I am hopeful I have come up with a workable solution.  I wanted something that could easily be cleaned or erased and rewritten when I wanted to reuse the jar for a different spice.  So, inspired by my success with a chalk marker in the nursery, I bought new jar lids and rings at Target and spray painted the lids with one coat of Rustoleum spray paint in flat black.  (Any flat paint works perfectly well with a chalk marker, imho.)  Then I wrote the names on with my trusty chalk marker (purchased on Etsy, here).  Now when I want to swap out spices I can simply wipe off the name and rewrite it, and I am hopeful that when they get dirty, a coat of spray paint will stand up better to washing than a paper label.  I am not quite as in love with the look as I was with my gorgeous pool blue labels, but I do think they will look really nice in my some day dream kitchen (all white cabinets, marble counter tops, stainless appliances). 

Comments

[Shoe Lush]

You are a genius, I am so doing this!

[Maura]

That is totally awesome. I wish I had room for that kind of arrangement. My spices are in a tiny spice rack on the wall or an unweildy mess in a cabinet.

[Natalie]

So cute! My husband just recently made me a chalkboard headboard! It is so cute! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=65942156&id=8363820&ref=fbx_album

http://www.diyideas.com/roombyroom/Bedrooms/headboards_ss14.html

[christina k]

brill.