DIY Shaker Mason Jar: A Smart Way to Reuse Canning Lids

DIY Shaker Jars: Reuse Canning Lids

Here is one way to reuse all those canning lids that are used once for canning now to dispense all kinds of DIY goodness. This little beginner-friendly project takes the shaker to the next level of practicality.

As you start canning a bit more, season from the season, you will soon arrive at a bit of a problem. You must use new canning lids for new canning projects. That is to say, you must use brand new, out of the box lids each time you fill them with jam, tomato sauce, or whatever is boiling in your pot. That means that when you open them, months later, that lid not safe to can with for your next batch. It is however plenty useful as a regular lid. Add four or five canning seasons under your belt and you will have oodles of used lids and if you are like me, you will hate to store and really hate to throw away these lids. I’m always looking for ways to reuse these lids and this particular project came about after seeing dozens of fun ideas on Pinterest and other places for DIY taco seasoning, cinnamon sugar mix, face scrub, etc. All these ideas are great, and money saving, and I love focusing on doing things yourself rather than relying on the grocery store or some other means of dubious merit to elevate your daily life. Here’s how you can take a used canning lid and create a simple shaker.

1. Identify a Used Canning Lid

I suppose you could use a brand new lid but I bet with very little effort you can come upon a used canning lid or two. In fact, on brand new jars sold in flats, very often their lids are “used” because of the heat and weight of transportation. Those lids have the tell-tale crease in the rubber flange and in a pinch, I’ll confess to using them but not without serious doubts as to their reliability to seal. It is best to can with new lids, and handy to reuse the used lids. Here’s the ridge you can see in lids that have been used in canning once before:

2. Acquire the jar and ring: I like dispensing from smaller jars because you will use up the contents faster and you won’t have to worry about the contents becoming stale or absorbing moisture. These are some tiny jelly jars that I like for both jams for gifting and for dispensing baking soda to use in the shower as a face and elbow scrub. You can purchase them by clicking the link below if you haven’t seen them in stores near you. One of the many, many reasons I love canning jars is because they are either regular or wide mouth. It isn’t like plastic sandwich containers (the bane of my wifely existence) where each lid is specific to each make and model and warps further with every trip through the dishwasher. They always fit. Period.

3. Mark out a design: I used a permanent marker to dot out a simple grid of holes and a fun flower design.

4. Find a tiny nail and a hammer. The smaller the nail, the better. I used the tiny nail that came in a kit of nails I bought ten years ago that are appropriate for hanging pictures on the wall. The nail will go through the lid with not a lot of effort, so a super heavy hammer is not necessary. Use what you have, Wildflowers.

5. Put the lid on the jar, screw on the ring, and start hammering. I am not particularly good at coloring inside the lines, in any way you want to interpret the metaphor, so you will see marks where I did not hammer through and holes where there are no marks. No matter to me. Keep your fingers clear of the hammer and go slowly and in no time you will have a super cute and functional shaker from which you can dispense:

¼ cup sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon for cinnamon sugar mix

plain baking soda for a simple but effective scrub

Any other clever mixes like taco seasoning, cocoa and cinnamon mix, etc!

I’d love to hear what you plan on filling your little shaker jars with, Wildflowers! Please share in the comment section below!