It’s the second Wednesday of the month so that means it’s time for the Monthly DIY Challenge! If you don’t know what the Monthly DIY Challenge is, every month some blogger friends and I team up to create our own projects that revolve around a certain theme or item. This month we’re bringing you some fabulous trash to treasure projects! 
I’ve got these cool empty food jar candle holders to share! After you’ve checked them out, make sure to check out the other great projects, which are linked at the bottom of this post! 
Keeping with the spirit of this challenge, I literally dug these jars out of the recycling bin. Awesome. And classy.
I cleaned them reeeeealy well, because who wants pickle juice or marinara sauce on their candles? Gross. Then I scraped off the labels and washed them with window cleaner. Once dry, I covered them in stickers. 
I mixed up a concoction of chalky-finish paint and multi-surface paint, and covered my jars. 
After the paint dried, I removed all of the stickers to reveal the glass beneath. There were some spots where the paint bled underneath the stickers, so I scraped that off with a knife. No biggie.
Since I’m planning to use these outside, I sprayed them with a high-gloss topcoat, but a sealer is totally optional. Then I added twine to two of the jars and a ruffled burlap ribbon to the other, made some fabric rosettes, and hot glued everything to the candle holders. This was super important for hiding the “best if used by” dates printed near the tops of the jars, and the “Prego” that’s part of one of the other glass jars. 
Then for some more trashy fun, I fixed up a little wooden caddy that I’d gotten at Goodwill last year. It was white with strange people who were skiing on it. I totally forgot to take a before picture (duh!), but basically, I painted it, cut the handle off to make room for the candle holders, and added a twine handle of my own. 
I can’t wait to take these out on the patio this summer! Cuteness will abound and the light will flicker through the clear designs on the jars.
Thanks for checking out my painted food jar candle holders. Now go see what fabulous trash to treasure projects my friends came up with!
– Bre
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Kristi says
SO sweet Bre! LOVE the shapes and those pretty little fabric flowers!!!!
Bre says
Thank you, Kristi! xo
Erica says
SO adorable!! I love reusing old food jars – the possibilities are literally endless! Loving the little rosettes and that caddy is gorgeous!!
Bre says
Thanks, Erica! Man, I so wish I would have taken the before photo of that caddy. It was hilarious. 🙂
Erin says
Caaa – yuuute! This is a great idea that I might *borrow* for our little sun deck! Great trash to treasure 🙂
Bre says
Thanks!! So I have to know . . . is this Erin or Dan?!? I am hoping it is Dan, just so that the “Caaa-yuuuute” is totally ridiculous. 🙂 Thanks guys!
Breanna says
These are the cutest! And don’t worry, I have a nice little collection of random jars and bottles sitting on top of our fridge 😉 You never know when you might need one for a monthly challenge right?!
Bre says
Hahaha I know! You never know when this stuff will come in handy!!! 🙂
Amy | Canary Street Crafts says
Great idea to use stickers! Love your pretty fabric rosettes too. These turned out so cute!
Bre says
Thanks, Amy!! They were kinda plain and ugly so I had to add something cute on there. 🙂 Thanks girl!
Katie @ Little House of Four says
Aren’t pickle and spagetti jars are the best? I love how you updated yours, especially the addition of the twine and fabric rosettes. Their perfect!
Bre says
Um, yes. And I’m not gonna lie, sometimes when I’m at the grocery store, I look for foods in interesting jars and consider buying them just so that I have the nice jar when I’m done with whatever is inside. LOSER!!! 🙂
Seana Turner says
I love them Bre. You should be on Etsy — are are you already and I just don’t know??
Bre says
Aw, thanks, Seana!!! I had a VERY short-lived stint on Easy last summer and fall. And then I realized that there was no way I could keep up with my family, blogging, and an Etsy shop, so that’s on pause for now. But I do think I will reopen once the kids are in school! 🙂
Tara @ Anything & Everything says
Super cute, Bre! Haha, I wish I could have been there to witness you digging the jars out of a recycling bin 🙂 Love the color that you painted the jars and the cute little wooden caddy that you displayed them in!
Bre says
Thanks, Tara! Well, there was a lot of “EEEW,” and “ugh, this is disgusting” and probably some other choice words being thrown around. 🙂 Hope you’re feeling better!
Kendra @ www.joyinourhome.com says
These are super cute, Bre!! What a great idea to put the stickers on first! The twine and fabric flowers add the perfect, pretty touch! Hope you have a great weekend! xo
Bre says
Thanks so much, Kendra! 🙂
Christina @ Operation Home says
Adorable, Bre! Especially when paired with that awesome caddy! I love the colors you chose! 🙂
Bre says
Thanks, Christina! Ugh, you would have LOVED the “before” caddy with the skiers. I WISH I would have taken a photo. 🙂
Laurie says
I love trash to treasure projects! You did just a great job on these!
Thank you for sharing with us at the Brag About It Link Party!
~Laurie
Bre says
Thanks, Laurie!! And thanks for hosting. 🙂
Erin @ the-organized-life says
Cute idea! And I think that literally taking the jars out of the recycle was just you fully embracing the “trash to treasure” concept. Love it!