Crafty by Nature

Recycle Baby Food Jars into Terrariums and Tea Kits!

Susan Beal, contributor

10 users recommend

This tiny terrarium is so cheerful in my kitchen.

This little set of a tiny terrarium and a chai-tea kit was really fun to make!

Susan Beal

The chai-tea kit is a nice surprise for a friend!

Susan Beal

This tiny terrarium is so cheerful in my kitchen.

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I love making terrariums, and last month I used Jenny Ryan's fantastic tutorial to create a whole herd of them in Mason jars. Then this week I started thinking about making a tiny version inside a baby food jar, and it was so much fun to do in miniature! While I had baby-food-jar crafting on my mind, I also put together a little kit for making fresh chai tea with spices and loose-leaf tea using two jars—an easy surprise gift for a friend.

These materials will make one terrarium and one chai-tea kit.

What you'll need:

• Three empty baby food jars with lids (I used two larger and one smaller)
• Paintbrush and acrylic paint in the colors of your choice
• Sealer
• Three large, flat-backed buttons (or any other embellishment) and glue
• Loose-leaf tea, spices (I used cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and ginger), and a tag and ribbon for the tea kit
• Charcoal, moss and soil, and small decorations for the terrarium

1. Clean and dry each jar. If adhesive from the labels is hard to remove, try using alcohol and a scrubby sponge in addition to washing them with hot water and soap.

Paint each lid in the color of your choice.

2. Add one layer of acrylic paint to each jar lid. Let it dry thoroughly before adding a second coat. When you are pleased with the appearance, add a layer of sealant to protect the paint and let that dry, too. (You can also spray-paint the lids or use another paint type—I used acrylic since it's nontoxic and I have a baby at home.)

I added loose-leaf tea and chai spices to the two jars.

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Red Terrarium
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Comments (9)

Levanrivanja writes: Wow lovely
Posted: 1:52 am on June 28th

Mreshyfole writes: These are incredible!
Posted: 6:45 am on May 19th

Felixmilo writes: Sweet and simple!!!
Posted: 2:28 am on May 19th

SeeratDerol writes: Lovely!!
Posted: 6:47 am on May 18th

nasrilee writes: good share
Posted: 8:27 am on October 7th

Jessicalyn_Bliss writes: These are wonderful! Great job Susan. I can't wait to make them :)
Posted: 12:55 pm on October 27th

chinamommy writes: these are great! i had 100's of jars a few years ago but threw the jars out & just saved the lids... what was I thinking?
Posted: 8:28 am on April 27th

doms218 writes: Super cute! I'm already putting some tea kits together for gifts. Anymore baby food jar ideas? I have so many jars.....
Posted: 3:13 pm on April 22nd

croqzine writes: Cute & simple! And the small scale makes it seem really do-able!
Posted: 4:23 pm on April 20th

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