She's Crafty - Toothpick Jar

As much as I love to bake, I do not have a nice toothpick holder. It's been a box for the past two years. And whenever I want a toothpick the box decides to give me twenty. It could be that the box isn't really conducive to upright storage, but hey, I have next to zero kitchen storage. Here's the offender...

I had stumbled upon an awesome pin for matchstick storage and thought it would work perfectly for my toothpick problem. I gathered up the following stuff to start off my project...

1 Crystal Jelly Mason Jar with Band

1 Scrap of Paper

3 1/2" Hole Punch

1/8" Hole Punch (not pictured)

Toothpicks

Scissors

Pencil

Now, I recently had a 50% off coupon for Michael's and I used it on that huge hole punch here. It was originally $24.99 but with that coupon I stole it for $12.50. I freaking love coupons. Seriously, I don't shop at Hobby Lobby without pulling their always-available 40%-off-one-item coupon. If you have a Hobby Lobby around you, I strongly urge you to pull up that bad boy.

Onto the good stuff...

Step 1. I took my awesome new hole punch and made one. It's freaking huge! Unfortunately, the punch was too big for the jar so I took my pencil and the jar lid to trace the size on the other side and then used my scissors to trim it down to size.

Step 2. I packed the most toothpicks I could into that tiny jar. I'm guessing I got a couple hundred jammed in there. (Ha ha. Get it? "Jammed" in there? Because it's a jam jar? Man, I crack myself up.)

Step 3. I used my 1/8" hole punch to make a hole right in the middle of a flower.

Step 4. Screw the band on the jar and find yourself with a toothpick jar. 

Overall, I think this project was a definite HIT. It looks awesome and now my baking tool drawer isn't full of wayward toothpicks. Think you might tackle this one? What other small stuff could you store in those jars?

What can I craft this Tuesday? Spice Shelves

My parents basement is a treasure trove. It has so many neat things in it. Possibly because they live in the house my grandfather was building and most likely because he was what you would have called a hoarder. Any way, I get to benefit from it! My parents want the stuff out and I want things to repurpose.

While I was perusing the basement a few weeks back I had been eyeing these drawers that used to hold various building materials like nails and screws. These drawers are old, dusty, and grimy. Literally, after I cleaned them I was blowing black snot out of my nose (sorry for that picture). What one person might deign to the burn pile, I salvaged and made kitchen storage! Go me.

Here's what I did:

Step 1. Scrounge your favorite basement, garage sale, etc for the perfect drawers. Note that these may not be in ready-to-use condition.

Step 2. Using a wire brush, scrub away years of grit and grime. You may need to vacuum out dust before and after.

Step 3. Wipe away any loose dirt and grit. Let dry and then wipe down again.

Step 4. Envision your wall and think strategically. Measure and screw in two d-rings on each side of the drawer. For larger drawers, you may want to add a third. Then get to nailin'. In the future I think I'm going to add another drawer lengthwise so that I can put taller spice jars there.

my future fourth drawer (please marvel at my photo editing skills)

Step 5. Now that I've got my drawer shelves hung, I had to get my spice jars ready. I have a spinning spice rack that has all your basics, but I have a ton of extra spices (for refill and other ones like nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon). I didn't want to just hide them away in my cupboard and, let's face it, having to dig through Penzy bags is just a pain. Thankfully I'm a hoarder thoughtful and keep empty salsa, cherry, and topping jars. I brought out my chalkboard paint and painted their lids so I could label my spices. For some reason, just by looking I'm always confused by basil and parsley. Please, please, don't judge my cooking skills because of that. I promise everything I put on here's delicious or at lest not awful.

Step 6. I put two coats on the lids and didn't bother priming the paint (by rubbing it down with chalk) I just went ahead and wrote the spices after the paint dried overnight.

Step 7. Fill those shelves up to your heart's content. Then marvel at your crafty-ness and ingenuity.

Here's my shelves filled with spices! I love it and I cleared up a shelf in my cupboard. Win-win. Now I just need to find a way to cover up that old phone jack. Ideas are more than welcome!

those spice jars are pretty darn handsome

Where do you keep all your extra spices and seasonings? What would you do with an old set of drawers?