Upcycled Baby Food Jars: Wood Vase & Candleholder

I love the versatility of this decoration I am about to show you!

It can be a vase, planter, candle holder, or a combination of these!  It is totally up to you. You can hang it inside, outside, and change up the size according to your preference.  It is so easy to personalize to fit your needs and space limitations...

Have I got you curious yet?! 

My husband and I used an old piece of distressed wood we already had, and attached nine baby food jars to the wood with clamps, then added two hooks to the top to hang it on our shed.

And I LOVE it!!

It is such a unique look, and I love that I am reusing an old piece of wood and baby food jars that would have gone into the trash!

The flowers give such a pretty pop of color to our shed, and the flowers can easily be changed out to include new cut flowers, planted flowers, soil and seeds, candles, etc. I'll show you some of these varieties later in the post.   Endless possibilities!!

Wanna' make your own?  Here are the easy directions...

Supplies:

• Baby food jars (any size and amount that you want- I used five large and four medium jars)
• Clamps (one per jar- I bought a bag of 10 at Home Depot in the plumbing section for around $10)
• Screws
• Drill
• Hammer
• Metal punch (or screwdriver)
• 2 Hooks (optional)
• Jute, twine, etc. (optional- to hang the wood)

Directions:

1.  Brush the wood off with a wire brush to remove any dust and dirt.  With a hammer and a metal punch (or a screwdriver, if you don't have a punch), punch a hole in the metal clamp to make it easier for the screw to go through (you will be drilling it in step 3).  Make sure you place a piece of wood underneath the metal, and punch the opening on the opposite side of where the clamp tightens. This will be the spot where the clamp is screwed into the wood.

2.  Measure and mark where you would like the baby food jars to be placed on the wood.  Place a clamp on your marking, with the part that you punched touching the wood.  Drill the screw into the opening.  Repeat with all of the jars.  

3.  Place the jars inside each clamp, and tighten again so that the jars are nice and snug.

4.  To hang the decoration, you will need to mark where you want the two hooks to go on the top of the wood.  Drill a hole on each side that is deep enough for the hook to go through.  Twist each hook into the hole until it is tight.  String a piece of jute, twine, etc. through the hooks, knot each end, and hang with a nail wherever you would like.  

We hung ours outside to spruce up an old shed.  This would also look great on a patio, or inside the house. 

So now that you have made this little beauty, it's time for the fun part- filling the jars!!

So many options!  Here's what I came up with: 

Cut Fresh Flowers in Water on Top,
Potted Plants Growing on Bottom

We cut some geraniums and flowers from our yard and placed them in water on the top. Geraniums are great to put in the jars filled with water because the cuttings root in water.  Once they have grown some roots, you can plant them in the jars on the bottom in soil.  Once they grow even bigger, you can transfer them to bigger pots, cut some more trimmings, put them in the water, and keep the cycle going!!

The petunias we planted on the bottom fit in the larger baby food jars, but just barely.  The jars with soil in them are perfect for growing plants from seeds, or little seedlings.  Again, once they outgrow their containers, you just transfer them over into a bigger container.

Tea Light Candles on Top, 

Cut Fresh Flowers in Water on Bottom

I love the look of these tea lights in the jars, especially at night.  Make sure that you do not leave the candles lit unattended, and keep them out of the reach of children!!

Tea Light Candles on the Top and the Bottom

I also filled all of the jars with tea lights, and the effect was so pretty!  This would be a great decoration for a backyard barbecue or evening fire, or even for a little ambiance in your home.

As you can see, there are so many fun things you can do with this.  Get creative, and save those baby food jars!

Here are some other creative ideas I came up with for reusing baby food jars...

Rainbow Cakes in a Baby Food Jar

Baby Food Jar Party Favors

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XO, Laura

Linking Up Here:  Tatertots & Jello,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just A Housewife, Lil Luna, Someday Crafts, A to Zebra Celebrations, House of Hepworths, What's Cooking With Ruthie, Oasie Moats, The 36th Avenue, Whipperberry