I have been known to hoard keep my share of glass jars and bottles. You know… just in case. And, actually, they have come in handy for several things such as bulk food storage, gift containers, and taking up space in my crafting area.
I remember drinking out of a small mason jar with a handle as a child when we visited with my grandparents. I think that was “my” glass. I also get a little giddy when I visit my Mom’s and see a mason jar in the cabinet.
Mason Jars, and other glass jars, seem to be all the rage in decorating these days—Country Chic? Of course, I am a big fan. You can visit almost any crafting or decorating blog and find some kind of something about mason jars. Heck, head on over to Pinterest. I know you can ‘pin’ some ideas there.
When decorating with and up-cycling mason jars, you will usually need to remove those pesky labels, which is not always the easiest of tasks. I have a simple way of doing just that. So easy and saves your fingernails from peeling away at the tacky glue and paper!
You will need:
-Your Jar/Bottle of choice
-A large plastic bowl
-Dish detergent
-A pretty stout hard back book
-Hot water
-A rough dish scrubber
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Gather your choice of jars/bottles that you want to remove labels from. I love the mason jars that this brand of spaghetti sauce comes in. They have the measurements and the word ‘mason’ on them!
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Put a medium amount of dish detergent into the bowl. Add hot water. (Tip: You will only want enough water so that you can also submerge the jar. So…I recommend fill it with the jar of choice in the bowl.)
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Now, with the jar standing in the water, place the heavy book on top. This will keep it from bobbing about while the magic is occurring. Let it sit this way for 15-20 minutes.
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Remove the jar from the water and pull off your label. You should be able to remove it in one piece with no issues. However, you may still have the adhesive residue on your jar as I did on these.
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Take your dish scrubber and run it across the adhesive area. This shouldn’t take too much elbow grease. Once the adhesive is removed, simply run your jar under some water to remove any residue. Tah-Dah!
Here are some cute ideas for your hoarded collected jars and bottles:
Little Miss Momma’s Painted Jar Centerpieces
Not Just a House Wife’s Mason Jar Wall Planters
MSN Living featured Country Living’s Mason Jar Soap Dispenser
Little Bit Funky’s Mason Jar No-Spill Drink Jars
I love this. I have some vases and jars that need new life for sure. What great ideas!
Courtney @ http://myyearinpins.wordpress.com/
great ideas! I hopped on board the glass jar craze myself last year while I was collecting decorations for my DIY wedding. I filled them about halfway with layers dried corn and rice and put tea light candles in them. We also attached wire to them so we could hang them from tree branches.. but it was unfortunately too windy. They still looked great as table decorations!
How do you remove the expiration information printed in black.
A cotton swab and a little nail polish remover will do the trick! Thanks for stopping by!