Make Life Lovely

Your DIY Guide to a Lovelier Life

Upcycled Baby Food Jars: Wood Vase & Candleholder

By 36 Comments

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…

 

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, and Instagram.

 
Please share and pin!
 
XO, Laura

About Laura

Hi! I'm Laura, owner and creator of Make Life Lovely, a creative blog filled with creative craft tutorials, DIY projects, party tips, holiday ideas, home decor, and so much more! Make Life Lovely is dedicated to making everyday life more lovely, and I hope to inspire you and show you how!

Comments

  2. Theresa says

    I LOVE it! I have so many baby food jars. I actually got rid of a lot of them, but kept quite a few because I knew there would be a use for them. Thank you for sharing, pinning to my baby food jar, then checking out the rest of your ideas.

    Reply

  12. Alex @ northstory says

    Visiting from the Osie Moats Link up – I am a huge fan of gardening (and a relatively rookie gardner) and this summer I definitely want to tackle a project like this b.c I did one with tins last year and what a mess that was. Glass is how do I put it, less “rustic”. This turned out really great!

    Reply

  13. Sausage says

    Thank you sharing such a nice stuff. i am really impressed with the tricks used to hold these food jars. Marguez Sausage

    Reply

  14. Anonymous says

    It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d without a doubt donate to this fantastic blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed
    to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and
    will talk about this site with my Facebook
    group. Talk soon!

    Reply

  20. K says

    Hey! I absolutely love this! I was looking for something to add to the awkward GIANT backsplash behind our kitchen sink. Since I rent, we can’t change the backsplash in any way. I was looking for some sort of hanging decoration since there is a tiny area of drywall I could affix a picture hanger to.

    This tutorial was the perfect inspiration for me to create my own hanging succulent garden! Here are a few photos on my blog – https://katielorancollins.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/diy-hanging-succulent-garden/

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


5 SECRET

RECIPES

For Creative

Kids Play!

FREE email series

DIY dinosaur eggs tutorial with a surprise inside! Perfect party favor or activity for a dinosaur party