Simple Organization: Jars

I love jars. I really do. I found these with the cute gingham lids a few years ago at Kroger and I use them for storing just about everything in my pantry. Granola, pastas, raisins, beans, rice, nuts, grains....just about anything that I can quickly get out of the packaging! Everything is much more neat and orderly without random bags and boxes, and items stay fresher because of the nice fitting lids. Whenever people come into my home, one of the first things they comment on is my jar organization!

But over the years I have also developed the habit of keeping glass jars that once had condiments in them. Honey jars, baby food jars, spaghetti sauce jars, peanut butter jars, salsa jars, applesauce jars. If it's a glass jar, it stays.

Jars have become my go-to organizational tool.

I use them for storing colored pencils and crayon rocks. Staples and erasers. Paper clips and rubber bands. Paintbrushes, buttons, pins, and threads. They become temporary homes for bugs the kids find outdoors. And they are the perfect vases for freshly picked wildflowers from nature walks. They are under bathroom sinks for hair ribbons and bands and little random things. They are a great storage solution for left-overs either for the frig or freezer...and even to keep some extra green smoothie for sipping on later in the day. And yesterday I realized that I could use them as a simple solution for soaking grains during the day or night for a later meal.

Many of these jars have also become our drinking glasses...I love to drink some sweet tea from a Mason jar :) And large baby food jars are the perfect drinking cup for toddlers...and if it drops and breaks? No biggie! No more plastic cups in the home or sippy cups...just a fun assortment of little jars to drink from.

So for low investment but high organizational and aesthetic value, look no further than the humble jar. It's a long-time icon of simple living and as basic and frugal as it comes.

And I love them.