Glass jars are one of those things that I have a hard time parting with. If I do part with them, they go into the recycling bin, but most of the time I keep them… ALL of them. I don’t buy a lot of things in cans or jars anymore, but from time to time a jarred item makes its way to my kitchen and after it is empty, that jar will be put into service in a second life storing something.
It isn’t just my own jars I keep, I have some friends that will give me their empty jars and I also have been known to lean into the recycle dumpster from time to time if I spot a jar I can’t live without. Sometimes those certain jars just call out to me.
I might as well fess up right now; I also save any lids that come my way. Why? For those jars that canning lids won’t fit on and over the years, the originally metal lids will start to rust and your just never know when you might need a new one – well, I have them in all shapes and sizes, metal and plastic. My way of thinking is (and by all means my thoughts aren’t always “normal”) that I am recycling them my way first before they end up at the recycle center later.
Back to the jars. I mentioned a rather large canning jar purchase here this past summer when I brought home a few more boxes (ok 7 boxes) of canning jars from an estate sale. I had told myself that I didn’t “need” any more canning jars and there I was piling more in my truck. Since then I have brought home 4 more boxes of canning jars from a garage sale. I have high high hopes that one day I will have more tomatoes then I know what to do with (or peppers or fruit) and I will be a canning-fool filling all those jars. I will have those jars, ready to use and I won’t have to run to the store for more jars. My jars also cost me less than half of what new jars would cost.
Again, my way of thinking is why not buy them when I see them (used, well-loved and ready for more action at a decent price) and they will happily wait on my shelf to be put into service. I haven’t counted to see how many canning jars I have now (I don’t count on purpose because that would give it a number… numbers aren’t always good to know.)
Well, numbers are good to know if you are already canning and preserving and you know exactly how many jars of tomato sauce or green beans it takes to keep your family in food throughout the winter and until your next harvest. I am lucky to live in a climate where I can have a spring, fall and winter garden, but I still want to be able to preserve some of the wonderful things like tomatoes, peppers or fruit,
Yesterday I did it again…. I came home with more jars. These are special jars though (they all are, right?) I went to an estate sale at a farm. Oh, it was a neat place. The back roads call out to me. The farm calls to me. The jars called to me. There was a small outbuilding that looked like it was used for making wine and storing canned things. There were several crocks and old wooden wine kegs (might not be the right term for them) and an entire wall made into a storage cupboard that was filled with old old canning jars with the wire bails on them. Most of them were out of my price range, but I managed to poke around and find 6 half-gallon canning jars for $1 each and a few gallon jars for $2 each. MINE!
As I left this cute farm and drove out the driveway I pulled over and just took it all in. I just filled up my soul with the scene. It stirs something in me. I gazed down at my “new” jars and smiled.
Am I the only one out there that has an obsession with jars?
Sincerely, Emily
You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.
No, you are not alone! Space dictates that i can’t keep as many as I would like to but our apt is overrun with jars of all shapes and sizes. I’ve been smuggling home old canning jars from work recently and am currently displaying about 30 old style canning jars across the top of my kitchen cupboards. And that’s just the tip of the iceburg…
I have the old ones displayed on top of the kitchen cabinets also! It sounds like you have a bigger collection of the older ones than I do. Mine is a combination of old canning jars and old apothecary jars. So nice to hear I am not alone!
Definitely not alone. Definitely. RMan doesn’t share my enthusiasm, but there again he doesn’t preserve anything, so his vote doesn’t count. LOL
You’re right, RMan’s voted doesn’t count. I also love that I can through the jars that I use for storing herbs and spices and see what is in them. Another bonus!
No, I have to force myself to get rid of jars– I love the idea of saving lids and just matching them to jars! I also love that you can go to a junk shop and buy an 80 year old Ball jar and your new lids will fit them JUST FINE. Thank you, Ball!
Xan, isn’t that great. I put new lids and rings on the 1/2-gallon jars I came home with on Friday. Just wonderful. I also love it when lids & rings will fit on other, non-canning jars that I have. Love the standardization of it all. Now if I could just use the same charge from my last cell phone on my current one – wouldn’t that be wonderful. That just drives me absolutely crazy. Or why all size 12 or 16 or 20 are not all created equal. aaaaahhhhhh
I haven’t gone that far yet, but I do save jars and plastic containers for the pantry. Keeps the mice out of the foods. I am just getting into canning, so I know I will get to be like you all.
Now, my husband, he hasn’t met a cardboard box he didn’t love. Drives me crazy, all the boxes in the attic. We juat might NEED to send something back and the original box is the only way. There are boxes up there from things we no longer own.
Well, we all have our quirks, don’t we?
Annie Rei – any jar is fair game. I tend to use the smaller jars in the cupboard for things like spices and dried herbs. Olive jars seem to work great for that. They do work great at keeping bugs out too.
Oh, man, I struggle with cardboard boxes too. Not usually the ones that the item came in, but boxes with handles and smaller ones that I might need to ship things in. Packing material. I am getting better at all that. I just recycled a ton of boxes and passed on some packing material to someone who can use it now! Yes, we do all have our little quirks. I will admit I have quite a few.
Be careful, canning jars can be addicting!
I have a lot of jars too. They get used for shaking salad dressing, storing herbs, homemade mayo, canning, leftovers .. itty-bitty ones for sending homemade salad dressing to school with a salad for my kids lunch .. it’s quite the obsession 😉
Oh Mrs. Mac! Little itty-bitty ones for salad dressing in a packed lunch – I LIKE THAT IDEA! I would like to start sending more salads with my husband for lunch at work. I have thought about just making up a normal jar size for him to leave there, but I like the itty-bitty jar idea better! Less likely to be forgotten and left in work fridge too long! It is quite the obsession!
I love jars too! We keep all glass jars that come into the house, and when I need to store something, I try to reach for glass before plastic.
Christina – that is great. I have reduced the amount of plastic-everything that we use. Purchasing glass storage containers helped make that switch easier. Jars are also used a lot. Little by little I give more plastic containers away (thrift store) I will admit to keeping some plastic containers on hand and I use those when friends take left-overs home. Oh I just smile thinking about jars – they have So many great purposes!
I love jars too! In my quest to rid my house of as much plastic as possible I justify my obsession. In fact, the other day my daughter and I were picking up a few things at the grocery store and ran across the cutest little 1/2 pint jars. They are shaped like a small urn with little handles on them. They were filled with beautiful peaches that I would never have bought otherwise. I bought them specifically for the cute little jars that will hold spices when we are finished remodeling our kitchen in about a month. My new open shelving will hold all manner of glass jars and bowls! Love this post!
Thanks Cherise! The cute little jars you found sound perfect. I understand that thrill you must have felt when you saw them and then realized what you could use them for too! Good luck with your kitchen remodel!
I am pretty much loathe to part with or leave behind any pretty glassware. The older and dustier the better! I don’t mind leaving newer jars into the recycling bin but mostly I keep them…you never know when they might become useful!
Jessica, you are so right! The older and dustier the better. That is what I found at that farm estate sale. They were covered with dirt and grime and they just called out to me. They cleaned up really well.
I do exactly the same thing, both with the jars that come in with food in them and with buying canning jars. Can’t get enough canning jars! (Storage has been a real problem for a while now. I need to stop!)
Hi Grace. You are right. You have to work out the storage for all those jars. I just cleaned out a huge space in the attic (room for more jars!) Today I used 4 quart canning jars for homemade yogurt. I have one more “aged” gallon of milk and I will do the same tomorrow (using another 4 quart jars) Sure glad they are on the shelf just waiting to be used!
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Hi Emily
I have some Lightning Jars that grandma gave to me before she passed. I love the jars. I don’t use them I just look at them.
How wonderful to get the jars from your Grandma! I have some older blue jars with zinc lids. They sit on top of the kitchen cupboards with other old apothecary jars. Fun to look at.
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