Here’s a Genius Way to Reuse the Lid from a Juice or Milk Carton!

If you’re a lover of mason jars – and who among us isn’t, truthfully? – then you probably have them scattered around your house for various uses. These rustic little jars serve a dual purpose; handy containers AND rustic decor. Plus, generally speaking, you can get mason jars for a dollar or less at most stores. Style, function, and affordability? It doesn’t get much better than that.

But even magnificent mason jars have a key flaw. If you use these jars to store pantry items, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.

Say you’re using your mason jars to store rice, flour, or even seasonings like salt and pepper. They’re contained well, they look trendy as anything…but how do you get your pantry item out of the jar?

That’s right, you have to unscrew the lid and spoon the contents out, or take your chances pouring it from the jar. This second option will most likely only end in a ruined recipe or an obnoxious mess and the first option is just time consuming.

Don’t give up on mason jar storage quite yet! There is still hope. We have an amazing hack to share with you from One Good Thing by Jillee, and it is going to make your mason jar experience THAT much better.

The trick? Giving your basic mason jar a DIY spout for pouring.

This sounds complicated, but all this project requires is some good old fashioned recycling! You’re simultaneously helping the environment and preserving your sanity, all at once. Use the spigot (otherwise known as the nozzle) of a juice or milk carton to give an instant pouring function to your mason jar. The process of transferring the spigot from carton to jar is simple, costs no money, and has a brilliant end result.

Materials

  • Mason jar
  • Mason jar ring
  • Milk/juice carton
  • Scissors
  • Pen/pencil

First, open up your juice or milk carton. If you’re not sure how, just think back to breaking into your chocolate milk containers at lunchtime. Same concept, larger scale – the folded sides simply unfold and rise straight up.

Then, lay the carton down so it’s flat. Take your mason jar ring and put it around the spigot, pressing the spigot as close to one side of the ring as possible. Use a pen or pencil to trace around the mason jar ring.

Take your scissor and cut out the circle you’ve created, separating the spigot from the carton.

Then, instead of popping your silver top back into your mason jar ring, put your paper spigot in instead.

There you have it! A mason jar customized with an easy-pour spigot that you can use in your kitchen with ease.

Pour out flour, seasonings, rice, or pasta by just unscrewing your new spigot and pouring out the contents as you would a carton of milk. With this cheap, DIY addition, you’ve taken away the only flaw of your favorite storage unit. Your beautiful mason jars just became that much more perfect! If you want to make this plain carton lid look that much cuter, try these customized lid inserts!

What do you think of this simple DIY? Will you be upgrading your mason jars with this hack? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.