Hello everyone, my name is Kayla and I run SayNotSweetAnne.com. I’m a Graphic Designer from Grand Rapids, MI and I love to craft, cook, and a variety of other things. ;D I’m very grateful for this opportunity to guest post on a Skip To My Lou, and to “meet” all of you! So, here goes!!

There are some things you never outgrow. For some it’s tearing the crust off their bread or eating all of the red M & Ms first. Me, I don’t like my food to touch. I know, I know, I’m an adult and a little green bean juice never ruined a pile of mashed potatoes. But the fact is, I just plain don’t like it. I even have a couple of those segmented cafeteria plates that I pull out when I’m feeling kidish. So, my husband wasn’t particularly surprised when I set out looking for a yogurt & granola cup. I’ve recently been making a lot of  pumpkin pie granola, and am sort of addicted to it. I wanted something that was compact, re-usable, and allowed me to store yogurt separate from granola in my lunch.

What did surprise him, and me, is that I found nothing. I scoured online stores and Google, but I found no good solution. Bummed, I started thinking of how I might make my own makeshift replacement. It was a stroke of inspiration that lead me to my latest favorite craft. The DIY Lunchable Jar.

Now, I started this for yogurt and granola- but with this gadget the possibilities are endless! Earlier this week I took soup and crackers. I put the soup part in the microwave (its just glass after all) and the wide mouth was more than comfortable to eat out of. So far I’ve tried cereal and milk, Dip and veggies, caramel and fruit, even cheese, crackers, and tuna salad.

I just can’t get over how cute, useful and portable these are! And all for the price of 2 mason jars. I’ve already made 3 sets and I’ve got PLENTY of ideas for more. Imagine the Christmas gift applications!! Below, you’ll even find a free printable with a sample of all the kitschy but cute “perfect pair” saying’s I’ve cooked up. (That includes a “gruesome Twosome” printable for Halloween!)

Anyway, enough ranting about the jars, here’s how its done!

You Will Need:

  • 2 same mouthed mason jars. I used 2 low profile wide mouth 8 oz jars. These are perfect for me because 8 oz is a serving size of most things. However, once you’ve made the connector rings, you can swap out ANY jar of the same mouth size! I think an 8 oz tall one and a short 4oz would be great too! Its up to you of course- the possibilities are many!
  • Lead Free Solder. I got mine at Radio Shack. (Way cheaper than the craft stores!)
  • Soldering iron. (hubby had one, but you can pick them up pretty cheap)
  • Sand Paper (Just a little)

How To Make It:

  1. Take off the rings to your jars. Sand them on top to remove any coatings that might prevent the solder sticking.
  2. Using your soldering iron place “blobs” of solder at even intervals near the interior hole of the rings. Solder is pretty easy to work with, just stick it on the iron until it melts!
  3. Place the two rings together. Use your soldering iron to heat up those blobs while holding the rings steady. They will melt then re-solidify  forming a dishwasher safe, permanent bond!
  4. Once the interior hole has been secured, melt blobs of solder at even intervals on the outside.
  5. That’s it!! Start hooking up amazing lunch combinations!


One of my favorite things about this project is the lack of garbage in my lunch box. My heart sinks when I throw away 4 ziplock bags each day. With these jars and my left over coffee bottles I have a plastic free meal!

The 8oz wide mouthed jars are very bowl-like. I was perfectly comfortable eating hot soup out of it. And there’s the yogurt and pumpkin pie granola that started it all.

And, as promised a PDF for you to download and print to use with your schmancy new jars. They don’t have to be for food either, “One for the money, Two for the show” would be SO CUTE with cash in one jar and a cinema gift card in another. What a unique wedding gift!!

GET THE PDF HERE

I’m so happy to have shared my project with you. Thanks SO MUCH to Skip To My Lou for hosting my guest post. I hope to see you around!



 


About Cindy Hopper

Learn More

you may also like

Comments

  1. Have you thought of patenting this? if this could be done in recyclable material, do you know how many moms with finicky kids would buy this from you. i love your mind. I have a lot of small recycled plastic containers

    I’ve bought over the years, and feel the same about keeping food separate. Also tend to keep all my condiments bowls/lids/jars, i am a pack rat and have all sizes. I keep a large Rubbermaid storage container filled with all types and sizes of containers. Butter dishes make great storage containers, and do well to serve foods outdoors with their lids to keep things covered. <3<3

  2. This is pure GENIUS!! Gracias for the idea (which you really should patent and manufacture). BB2U

  3. I have been using mason jars to carry and store food for years because they are glass, not plastic. The reason I can see for doing this would be to keep the glass from clinking together in your bag. As it is I just use my napkin to separate them to avoid breakage. I can imagine my clumsy self unscrewing these wrong and having the contents of the top jar spilling out everywhere.

    Regarding washing and reusing plastic baggies: 1)plastic leaches into your food, can emulate estrogen in your body, I’m not convinced it’s safe to store food in it at all 2)they wear out, glass does not, unless you break it.

  4. Seriously, why such a rude and foul mouthed reply Jesse?

    When I first saw the picture on Pinterest, I was like “cool”. I read the blog post and although I still think it’s a cool idea, I too am trying to figure out why would you need to attach them together.

  5. This is one of the cleverest ideas I have ever seen. I don’t buy plastic at all but my family and friends still do. I see plenty of these as gifts in their futures!

  6. I think they make salad containers with separate compartments for salad dressing. But I’m sure they’re plastic, and it’s nice that these are not!

    I would think that having them attached could be particularly useful for children, who might NOT realize what you intended to go together.

  7. I love the idea of keeping food separate. Perfect craft for packing lunches. I am also not a fan of my food touching on a plate.

  8. What a fantastic and inventive idea! The possibilities are endless, can’t wait to make some jars and get creative with food!

  9. Love, love, LOVE these! They are so cute! I however can not get the solder to stick to the lids even after heavily sandpapering them. Any ideas what I could be doing wrong?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *