Talk About a CLEVER IDEA!!
I just found an idea today that’s been floating around on the Internet for a few weeks, so you might already know about this. But in the off-chance we have some readers that haven’t seen this, here you go! (And BTW: how’d we live so long without this infinite source of information, anyway?)
This is all about a little trick to making a canning jar (Mason, Kerr, Ball, or even an empty and clean mayonnaise jar) even more useful than it already is. Specifically, this is about how to create a canning jar pour spout.
You’ll need an empty carton with a capped pour spout, a canning jar with canning ring, a pencil, and a pair of scissors.
The first thing you do is rip open the glued portions of the empty carton and lay it out flat on your work surface.
From there, center your canning ring over the box’s plastic pour spout and with your pencil draw a heavy line around the canning ring, on the INSIDE of the ring.
Then with your scissors, cut around your pencil line to remove the spout from the box. You’ll want as even a circle as you can get.
Fit the cut circle into the inside of your canning ring with the capped spout facing outwards. Finish by screwing the canning ring onto your jar, screw the plastic cap onto the spout, and voila! Say hello to an even more useful canning jar!
Now all you need to do is decide how to put this jar to use. I filled mine with baking soda because I use that instead of BAR KEEPER’S FRIEND for cleaning my pots, pans, and stainless steel sink. Pouring it out of a canning jar is much easier than pouring it out of that orange box!
My neighbor, Karen, filled hers with cornmeal; she makes a lot of pizza and likes how convenient this jar makes sprinkling her pizza stones with the meal. My daughter filled hers with scented Epsom salts.
And don’t forget this refurbished jar is also excellent for storing dry ingredients and pantry staples. Fill it with chopped nuts or chocolate chips to use in baking projects, or fill it with your favorite powdered coffee creamer or sugar substitute and store it with your coffee supplies. You can see how the possibilities can go on and on.
I’ll close with a big shout-out to Jillee of www.onegoodthinkbyjillee.com for sharing her superb photos of this project. Of all I looked at, hers were the best!
This is all about a little trick to making a canning jar (Mason, Kerr, Ball, or even an empty and clean mayonnaise jar) even more useful than it already is. Specifically, this is about how to create a canning jar pour spout.
You’ll need an empty carton with a capped pour spout, a canning jar with canning ring, a pencil, and a pair of scissors.
The first thing you do is rip open the glued portions of the empty carton and lay it out flat on your work surface.
From there, center your canning ring over the box’s plastic pour spout and with your pencil draw a heavy line around the canning ring, on the INSIDE of the ring.
Then with your scissors, cut around your pencil line to remove the spout from the box. You’ll want as even a circle as you can get.
Fit the cut circle into the inside of your canning ring with the capped spout facing outwards. Finish by screwing the canning ring onto your jar, screw the plastic cap onto the spout, and voila! Say hello to an even more useful canning jar!
Now all you need to do is decide how to put this jar to use. I filled mine with baking soda because I use that instead of BAR KEEPER’S FRIEND for cleaning my pots, pans, and stainless steel sink. Pouring it out of a canning jar is much easier than pouring it out of that orange box!
My neighbor, Karen, filled hers with cornmeal; she makes a lot of pizza and likes how convenient this jar makes sprinkling her pizza stones with the meal. My daughter filled hers with scented Epsom salts.
And don’t forget this refurbished jar is also excellent for storing dry ingredients and pantry staples. Fill it with chopped nuts or chocolate chips to use in baking projects, or fill it with your favorite powdered coffee creamer or sugar substitute and store it with your coffee supplies. You can see how the possibilities can go on and on.
I’ll close with a big shout-out to Jillee of www.onegoodthinkbyjillee.com for sharing her superb photos of this project. Of all I looked at, hers were the best!
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
