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!



 


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Comments

  1. Great guest post! Kayla thanks so much for the to-do. With so much plastic being used these days it’s nice to see people who still appreciate glass. What a handy and crafty idea and a great way to take lunch.

    Oh, love the site Ship to My Lou and I’ll be back.

    Thanks again to you both.

  2. This is really great! Only one little thing I never knew but found out recently- canning lids have BPA in them. You can get reusable canning lids (I found some on Amazon) that specify being BPA free. It’d be a shame to go to such an extent to create your own eco-friendly and natural containers only to then be unwittingly contaminating your family’s food with BPA!

    Great design!

  3. I agree with Kristen, I have 4 jars in my bag right now waiting for lunch and dinner time. I see absolutely no point in attaching them to each other.

  4. I was stumbling through Stumbleupon when I landed on this blog post. I happened to read “My heart sinks when I throw away 4 ziplock bags each day.” Why not save those bags, take them home, and just wash and reuse them?? I often wipe down a bag used for a sandwich with a paper towel and reuse it. I’ve been known to reuse a single ziploc bag for over a week. When it develops holes, then I recycle it (I never put it in the garbage). Perhaps you should do that.

  5. This is an excellent idea, i love the cereal ones great for taking to school and work. Thanks

  6. This is such a great idea!! The possibilities are endless! I love how microwave-friendly it is.

  7. This is an idea I will be using in many ways. One of the first that came to mind was in my sewing/craft room. Great idea!

  8. this is really a great invention and very practical! loved it and use them for every thing not just foods!! I myself as well was born and raised in Grand Rapids Mich and am also very creative! I love the d.i.y concept,..allot of great minds seem to have come from G.R,..glad to know we are making ourselves publicly known and proud of it! good luck on your future endeavours!!

  9. Love the idea, but guess I’m a slow od woman, I enlarged the pics and re-read the article several times, but still am confused about where exactly to solder the lids. Inside the top part where the flat lid would go? Does that leave room for the flat seal to fit properly? And with the spot soldering, is it still leak proof? I already know about soldering, used to work for Radio Shack, (and thanks for the promo, one can learn much by just asking an associate), but the placement has me confused.

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