Six New Ways to Use that Empty Peanut Butter Jar

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An empty peanut butter jar has endless possibilities! Once you finish the good stuff inside, use one of these ideas or recipes to upcycle and give the jar new life.

empty peanut butter jar ideas
empty peanut butter jar terrarium
empty peanut butter jar ideas
peanut butter jar overnight oats

In recent weeks, I’ve been saving every empty box or container in our house. Have you? I feel like empty jars and containers are the perfect materials for on-the-fly crafts, projects, and activities for my kids.

And since we’ve been polishing off peanut butter left and right, I’ve got jars on my hands to create with. Peanut butter is definitely a go-to for our family.

We add it to everything from morning smoothies, to snack boards, to salad dressings, and more.

I’m guessing you probably are making plenty of empty peanut butter jars too! Peanut butter is affordable, shelf-stable, and can provide a great source of nutrition for families — all of which is so crucial right now.

So I teamed with the National Peanut Board to bring you six ideas and recipes you can use on those empty (or almost empty!) jars.

Psst — if you like these ideas, be sure to join our exclusive list to get more DIYs and inspiration sent right to you! Enter your info below to join.

How to Remove Labels from Jars

For starters, let’s get that label off! How many times have you tried to peel a label off of a jar, just to have it shred or rip or leave a mess of sticky gunk behind? Yeah, me too. And it’s one of my least favorite things!

So here’s my go-to removal process for getting the labels and the gunk off in a snap.

  1. Fill a sink with scalding hot water and submerge the jars fully. Fill each jar with some water to make it stay below the surface. Allow to soak for an hour or two.
  2. Once soaked, the majority of the labels will wipe right off. Wipe off what you can.
  3. Next, sprinkle a paste of cooking oil and baking soda on any remaining sticky areas. Allow to sit for another 20 minutes or so.
  4. Finally, scrub the paste off with a rough sponge. The gunk will come with it! Give the jar one more wash with soap and water.
empty peanut butter jar

Recipes for An Almost Empty Peanut Butter jar

We’ll get to some crafts in a minute, but let’s talk about that terrible moment when you realize you have an almost empty peanut butter jar! (Fingers crossed that you have a backup.)

These two recipes are perfect for using that last bit of peanut butter to really stretch your supply.

Peanut Butter + Chocolate Cereal Snack Mix

This sweet treat is a snap to make and a perfect recipe for letting little ones help. Snack on it during movie night, or add to lunch as a fun treat.

Ingredients

  • Glass peanut butter jar with 2-3 TBSP of peanut butter left
  • Handful of chocolate chips
  • Wheat or rice square cereal
  • 3 TBPS powdered sugar
  1. Remove the lid of your glass peanut butter jar and microwave the peanut butter (should only be a few TBSP left in the jar) for 10 seconds.
  2. Add a handful of chocolate chips and microwave in 20 second intervals until melted, stirring in between.
  3. Fill the jar 3/4 of the way with cereal. Add the lid, flip the jar upside down, and shake! Let kids help. Shake until all the cereal is covered.
  4. Add powdered sugar, recover, and shake again until everything is coated in the sugar.
  5. Spread on a sheet of parchment paper to cool.
  6. Enjoy! Add a handful of shelled peanuts to the mix for some extra protein and crunch.
peanut butter jar recipe
peanut butter jar recipe
muddy buddy recipe

Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

This recipe for peanut butter overnight oats is a delicious, fast, and nutritious breakfast — my trifecta!

Ingredients

  • Glass peanut butter jar with 2-3 TBSP of peanut butter left
  • 1/2 c rolled oats
  • 1/2 c milk of your choice
  • 1 TBSP pure maple syrup
  • 1 TBSP chia seeds
  • berries
  1. Once your PB jar is almost empty, place the glass jar in the microwave for 10 seconds to lightly soften the remaining peanut butter.
  2. Add to jar rolled oats, milk, syrup, and chia seeds. Stir to combine.
  3. Replace jar lid and place in the refrigerator overnight.
  4. In the morning, stir again. Top with berries and another little dollop of peanut butter for extra deliciousness!
peanut butter jar overnight oats
peanut butter jar overnight oats

Crafts and projects for An Empty Peanut Butter Jar

An empty peanut butter jar has a zillion possibilities! I love to save our jars for small kid projects, extra storage, and just about anything you can think of. Check out these four ideas and choose some that would be fun for your family.

DIY Movie Night Jar

Use your empty peanut butter jar to create a fun family tradition with this fast and easy project!

Materials

  • Empty jar
  • Blank paper
  • Scissors
  • Pen
  • Optional: spray paint
  • Optional: alphabet stickers
  1. On a blank sheet of paper, have the whole family brainstorm a list of movies that you’d like to watch together.
  2. Cut each movie title into a strip of paper and fold in half.
  3. If you’d like, decorate your jar! In a well-ventilated area, spray paint the exterior of the jar with light coats until you achieve full coverage. Use multiple colors for an ombre effect.
  4. Add alphabet stickers to the front once dry.
  5. Place your movie papers inside and every Friday night, pick a movie! Bonus points if you bring some peanuts to snack on.
empty peanut butter jar ideas
empty peanut butter jar ideas

Empty Peanut Butter Jar Terrarium

This pretty DIY is a perfect fit for plant lovers old and young!

Materials

  • Empty plastic peanut butter jar
  • Hotknife tool
  • Spray paint
  • Soil
  • Small succulent plants
  1. First, cut a large circle out of the side of your empty plastic peanut butter jar, centered between the bottom and the top of the jar. Have an adult do this part!
  2. Next, spray paint the lid a fun color. Once the lid is dry, put it back on the jar.
  3. Flip the jar upside down so that it’s resting on the lid. Place some soil in the jar and plant some small succulents. Water them lightly.
  4. Place on display or give as a gift! (This would make an awesome teacher gift, too.)
empty peanut butter jar terrarium
empty peanut butter jar terrarium

DIY Jar Bank

Once your peanut butter jar is empty, use it to collect some cash! Kids will love this project.

Materials

  • Empty plastic peanut butter jar
  • Hotknife tool
  • Optional: glue gun
  • Optional: paints and paintbrushes
  1. Cut a slit in the center of the jar lid large enough to slide money through.
  2. If you like, you can be done! Just put the lid on and it’s a bank. Hot glue the lid shut if you think you’ll need a little extra security.
  3. If you’d like to decorate it, paint the lid and the lower half of the jar the same color. Allow to dry.
  4. Add little painted rainbows to the lower half of the jar for some decoration. Allow to dry and start saving your coins!
make a piggy bank out of empty jars
make a piggy bank out of empty jars
make a piggy bank out of empty jars

Craft Supply Storage Jars

The most practical of the bunch, this project is beyond easy to recreate and will help you wrangle all of your craft supplies!

Materials

  • Empty peanut butter jars
  • Spray paint
  • Craft supplies
  1. If you like, spray paint the lids of your jars. For a cohesive look, paint them all the same color. Or for something more wild, paint each lid differently.
  2. Allow paint to fully dry.
  3. Fill your jars with craft supplies! Larger jars are great for things like pompoms, yarn, pipe cleaners, and more. Smaller jars are great for office supplies, stamps, and so on.
use empty jars for craft storage
use empty jars for craft storage

Save those Jars!

I can’t tell you how many times an empty jar has saved the day in our house. I hang on to them all, especially now, and the kids and I always try to find a use for them. Hope some of these ideas inspire you! xoxo

empty peanut butter jar
empty peanut butter jar ideas

How to Reuse an Empty Peanut Butter Jar

Yield: Jar Recipes and Crafts
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $0

These uses for an empty peanut butter jar are perfect for upcycling!

Materials

  • Empty peanut butter jars
  • Spray paint
  • Alphabet stickers
  • Soil
  • Succulent plants
  • Paper

Tools

  • Scissors
  • Hotknife tool

Instructions

  1. Make sweet snack mix. Add chocolate chips to an almost-empty glass peanut butter jar and microwave. Add rice square cereal, return lid, and shake. Add powdered sugar, return lid, and shake. Enjoy.
  2. Make overnight oats. To an almost-empty peanut butter jar add oats, chia seeds, milk, and maple syrup. Refrigerate overnight.
  3. DIY Movie Night Jar. Add slips of paper with movie names to an empty peanut butter jar. Every weekend, choose a movie for family movie night!
  4. DIY Jar Terrarium. Use a hotknife to cut a circle in the side of an empty jar. Optional: spray paint the lid. Add lid, flip upside-down, and add soil and succulents.
  5. DIY Jar Bank. Use a hotknife to cut a slit in the lid of a jar. Optional: decorate the jar with paint. Save your coins!
  6. DIY Craft Storage. Spray paint lids of empty peanut butter jars. Fill jars with craft supplies to organize your storage.

Notes

In recent weeks, I've been saving every empty box or container in our house. Have you? I feel like empty jars and containers are the perfect materials for on-the-fly crafts, projects, and activities for my kids.

And since we've been polishing off peanut butter left and right, I've got jars on my hands to create with. Peanut butter is definitely a go-to for our family.

We add it to everything from morning smoothies, to snack boards, to salad dressings, and more.

I'm guessing you probably are making plenty of empty peanut butter jars too! Peanut butter is affordable, shelf-stable, and can provide a great source of nutrition for families -- all of which is so crucial right now.

This post is sponsored by the National Peanut Board. All ideas and opinions are my very own. Thank you for being supportive of the partners who help keep Lovely Indeed rocking!

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