by Texas Homesteader ~
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I store lots of dehydrated food in my pantry. But I wanted chalkboard labels to make it easier to read the contents of jars on the shelves. I didn’t want to buy them, and luckily I didn’t have to. You’re not gonna believe how easy this is. #UseWhatchaGot!

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Dehydrated Food In My Pantry

I love to dehydrate food. My pantry is filled with gleaming jars of dehydrated produce.

I’ve got sliced and diced carrots, sliced & diced onions, squash, okra, potatoes and more. Pretty much anything I’ve grown in my garden I’ve dehydrated.

I’ve turned into quite the dehydrating queen since obtaining my *Excalibur Dehydrator. Heck those 9 huge trays let me dehydrate so much more than I ever could before!

When that produce is dehydrated I place them in clean jars in the pantry. I wanted to have chalkboard labels for my jars.

Reusable Labels For Jar Fronts

I’d previously bought these reusable *chalkboard labels for the fronts of the jars. They look great and are reusable.

And better still, when that jar of carrots is empty I simply wipe off the text and use the chalkboard pen write the new contents of the jar. Now that’s efficient!  LOL

But when they’re all placed on the pantry shelf, it’s sometimes hard to see what’s contained in the jars behind those in the front row.

I needed a way to easily label the top of the jar when needed. That way I could see over the jars in front & still know the contents of the jars behind them.

I went shopping for chalkboard labels I could put on top of the lid. You could easily buy *Chalkboard Labels For Jar Tops.  But I wondered…  can I do that myself?

A DIY Challenge

Instead of buying the pre-made chalkboard labels I thought about buying *Chalkboard Paint. I figured I could use it to paint the lid flats. Then using chalk I could label the contents of the jars. 

While it’s true that would make it much easier to see the contents of the jars behind the first row, I hated to buy any paint. Questions ran through my mind.

Would I be able to use it all before it went bad? Or is this yet another item that will get purchased, partially used and then have to be disposed at a hazardous waste event?

The desire for pantry organization just couldn’t reconcile with that eco-voice in my head.

But wait, I’ve got an idea. You know how bright ideas are, sometimes that’s a good thing & sometimes…

No?  Just me?  (eh hemmm…) Moving on.

Make Your OWN Chalkboard Labels

I got a piece of black construction paper and traced the flat lid shape onto it and cut out the circle shape.

Then I placed it on the flat part of the lid, screwed on the ring and gave it a try. It was perfect and made identifying contents in the back rows easier.

Notice how hard it is to read the other labels in back rows? OK, ok, don’t act like you’re not secretly jealous of my uppity duct-tape labels. If you work hard, go to school & study maybe you too can have such niceties. LOL

But the lid marking of the carrots in the second row is much easier to read than a piece of tape marking the lid of some of the other jars.

Of course not all of my storage jars are canning jars so I’ll need to think about a solution for those repurposed jars not using a 2-part lid.

Although it’s apparent that I need to practice my spacing and/or sharpen my chalk (eh hemmmm…), it worked great.

I don’t always use canning jars to store dehydrated goods but when I do this will be my go-to addition in labeling. And no money spent. SCORE!

Use Whatcha Got, y’all.

~TxH~

Other ‘Use Whatcha Got’ Ideas

• Make A Cute Porch Lantern
• Assuring Safety Around An Underground Cistern
• Repurposing An Empty Parmesan Cheese Container – BRILLIANT!
• MYO Simple Craft Paintbrush In A Pinch
• Replacing Our Bedside Clock/Radio
• Predator Guard For Our Martin House
• Trick Birds Away From Garden Strawberries
• Protecting Tender Seedlings
• Safer Straight-Pin Storage
• Tame Electrical Cords
• Save Your Fingernails When Cleaning
• Keeping Boots Stored Neatly
• How Leaves Greatly Benefit Your Garden
• Pretty Wax-Dipped Pinecone Fire Starters
• Finding Free Storage Lids For Canning Jars
• All ‘Use Whatcha Got’ Posts

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