Average But Inspired

Inspiring creativity with crafts, DIY, and home decor projects.

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Painted Food Jar Candle Holders {Monthly DIY Challenge}

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!  As part of the Monthly DIY Challenge, 10 bloggers share their amazing 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!  Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
Keeping with the spirit of this challenge, I literally dug these jars out of the recycling bin. Awesome.  And classy.Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
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.  Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
I mixed up a concoction of chalky-finish paint and multi-surface paint, and covered my jars.  Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
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.Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
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.  Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
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.  Turn empty food jars into cute candle holders with some stickers and paint! Great project for beginner crafters and kids, too!
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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Comments

  2. Erica says

    SO adorable!! I love reusing old food jars – the possibilities are literally endless! Loving the little rosettes and that caddy is gorgeous!!

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Thanks, Erica! Man, I so wish I would have taken the before photo of that caddy. It was hilarious. 🙂

    • 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!

  4. 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?!

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Thanks, Amy!! They were kinda plain and ugly so I had to add something cute on there. 🙂 Thanks girl!

    • 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!!! 🙂

    • 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! 🙂

    • 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!

  9. 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

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Thanks, Christina! Ugh, you would have LOVED the “before” caddy with the skiers. I WISH I would have taken a photo. 🙂

  11. 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

    Reply

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