There are lots of baby products that are disposable or single-use, like diapers, wipes, half-eaten teething biscuits, etc. Baby food jars often fall into this category. Once the jar is empty, it usually goes in the trash. But what if I told you that by just throwing them away, you were missing out on a whole bunch of creative and practical ways of reusing them?
With a little soap and water, these little gems can be re-used for everything from keepsakes to spice jars. Here are 11 ways that you can repurpose your empty baby food jars.
1. Homemade Baby Food
The jar originally held baby food, so it makes perfect sense to store baby food in the jar, right? If you are making just a few servings at a time, then these little jars are perfect for storing the right size portions of puree.
If you make up big batches and freeze your homemade baby food in ice trays, then these little glass jars can be helpful for defrosting and warming up individual servings.
2. Travel Formula
When you are traveling, it is not always practical to have ready made bottles prepared if you have no way to keep them chilled. But the alternative is to stuff a tub or can of formula in your diaper bag. To save you from carrying such a bulky item, there are many individual formula portion travel cups available the market.
Instead of buying these cups, you can achieve the same thing using baby food jars. Scoop in enough powder to make up one baby bottle. When ready, just add to a bottle with the appropriate amount of water and shake. You can make up as many of these formula jars at a time as you want. Keep them in your diaper bag as a backup or use them when you can’t take premade bottles with you.
Helpful Tip: If you intend to use them just as a backup, you might want to take a marker to the jar and write down the formula’s expiration date.
3. Snack Carrier
Often times, traveling with a box of Cheerios or a jumbo can of peach puffs isn’t practical. Instead, throw a handful of these snacks in an empty baby food jar. Not only are they more compact to carry, compared to a plastic baggy, they protect their contents better and are a lot easier to find in your diaper bag or purse.
4. Measuring Cup
Most formula containers have little scoops to help you measure out the right amount to feed baby. But other edibles like oatmeal and snacks don’t have any measuring implements.
Every day when I make my little one his oatmeal breakfast, I fill a little baby food jar up with the dry cereal to a set point before adding formula. Then I stir it thoroughly and pop it into the microwave for a few seconds (he turns up his nose at cold oatmeal). Using the jar as both measuring implement and to serve the oatmeal saves me both time and dishes.
It doesn’t have to be baby related either. You can use these jars to measure out anything. Ground coffee, cat food, bleach, and anything else you can think of.
5. Spice Jars
Looking around your kitchen, where else might you find pint-sized glass jars? Probably in your spice cabinet. While baby food jars are a slightly different shape, they are roughly the same size as a spice jar and work well for storing spices and other pantry essentials.
For wider mouth jars, consider storing garlic cloves, nuts or other items that are difficult to get into narrow jars. If you want to make a shaker out of a jar, simply poke holes in the lid. Or you can add magnets to the lids for a unique take on spice jar storage.
6. Bathroom/Office Supplies
I am not a neat freak, much to my husband’s dismay. Our home is very cluttered, from a living full of baby toys to a bathroom full of bath toys and clutter in every room in between. Baby food jars to the rescue once more!
There are many things, particularly in the bathroom and office that I like to have readily available. Stuff like q-tips, spare change, paper clips, nail files (for sharp baby talons), etc. The containers that these items come in are often large, fragile, or just plain ugly. Instead of setting these containers out, I can place small quantities in an empty baby food jar and set these out on the bathroom counter or office desk.
You can even decorate the jars to help them blend with your décor. More on this in a minute.
7. Keepsakes
Your little one will not be eating 4oz purees forever. Eventually, he or she will grow beyond purees to munch on the same things you eat. You might look at these little jars one day and sigh with nostalgia. So why not repurpose them for keepsakes?
An empty baby food jar is the perfect place to save your little one’s baby teeth.
And as your little one gets older (or for your older children), you can use these as vacation keepsakes. Bring home beach sand, seashells, rocks, and more. At home you can use these jars to create mini time capsules by adding in small toys, coins, and a hand written note from your little one.
8. Arts & Crafts Time
There are many destined-for-the-trash items that make excellent arts & crafts resources, baby food jars included. Below are just a handful of potential uses.
- To help draw/cut perfect circles
- Store homemade playdough and silly putty
- Make custom-scented candles
- Hold clean water for dipping paint brushes into
- Decorate for use as keepsakes or decor
- Glitter shaker
- Make miniature snow globes
- Create an advent calendar
The use of these little jars for arts & crafts time is near limitless.
9. Educational Resource
For older children, these jars can be used as an educational tool. Instead of a piggy bank, use baby food jars to count out and separate different denominations of coins. Or separate coins from different countries.
If your young one is an outdoorsy type, you can use the jars to capture and study bugs. Or gather samples of different soils to look at. Since baby food jars are clear glass, this makes them perfect for studying all types of things up close.
10. As a little jar
Empty baby food jars are essentially just a jar in miniature form. They can be used for anything you might otherwise use a jar for. For instance, my husband is stealing a few of our empty jars to store yeast samples in since they take up less space in the fridge.
These little jars can be handy in the kitchen for storing all kinds of food and pantry items, in the garage for sorting nuts and bolts, and in any other room in your house for just about any purpose you can think of.
11. Recycle
If you end up with too many baby food jars on your hands, or simply don’t have the space to store them, you can always recycle them. Just give them a thorough rinse and drop in your nearest recycling bin.
You can also contact a local school, daycare or after school program to see if they would take your clean, empty jars. They often have need for all kinds of arts and crafts supplies.
Next time, before you toss that used baby food jar in the trash, why not give it a rinse and explore one of the uses above. After all, it costs you nothing to give it a try.
