Spice Drawer Make Over - Free Printables!

I love spices. I do not like spice jars. They are clumsy, too narrow for a tablespoon, problematic for storage, and wasteful. Up until now, this was my spice drawer. It worked, but it didn't make me happy:

Now, my spice drawer looks like this, and I'm all smiles about it. Look at all that extra space!

Let's talk about why I don't like regular spice storage, and then we'll get to the printables. 

1. The bottles are all different sizes, making most spice racks useless.
2. If you store them upright in the pantry, you can't see everything. (Which means I buy double, which means I waste money.)
3. If you store them on their sides, they get messy.
4. You can't put a freaking tablespoon in most of them. (So silly and frsutrating! Ok, this should really be my #1 reason. It drives me bonkers.)
5. If it's a spice you go through quickly, it can get pretty wasteful to keep buying the small containers, for both money and packaging. 
6. Over the years, I've ended up with hodge podge brands and bottles, and it's just not pretty. 

During Vegan Mofo, I came across Bite Me I'm Vegan when she showed her spice drawer. And she complained about the tablespoon thing! I felt like we were kindred spirits, and she was showing me the path to spice drawer enlightenment. 

Then it took me 2 months to find the darn things. (Shipping to Hawaii is expensive.) Christmas canning saved the day, and I brought home two boxes.

First, I made a hostess gift. I used this super cute label printable, and I made a theme "Spices Around the World." I filled the jars at the health food store from the Organic Bulk Spices, labeled them, and wrapped them up in repurposed materials. If you know me, you know that means an onion bag. ;)

Not the best photos, but I was late to the party already, so I snapped, grabbed, and ran. In heels.

I thought it would be really cute to do a Holiday Set, with pumpkin pie spice, fresh ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. I planned to do cute holiday labels in cranberry and turquoise colors. Buuuuutt, I didn't get to it. Now it's on next year's plan.

Now that January is here, and I'm in purge and organize mode, I decided to tackle the spice drawer.

1. I pulled everything out and checked expiration dates.
2. I tossed expired stuff and stuff I never use. (And by tossed, I mean I recycled the plastic containers and washed and saved the glass ones for crafts like this.) Then I grouped duplicates together.
3. I cleaned and sanitized the empty drawer.
4. I printed my new labels on sticker paper, cut them out, hand wrote the spice names, and adhered them to the canning jars. (You could mod podge the top to seal them, but I didn't bother.) (I also used a couple leftover labels from the hostess gift, for a random pop of color amidst my sea of  greens and grey.)
5. I transferred the spices I was keeping, and then put them back in the drawer in alphabetical order.
6. And then I fell in love. <3

Spice Jar Loooooooooove.

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There is so much more space this way, and all the spices from the regular sized bottles fit in the canning jars. Only the really large size bottles didn't fit. I'll set those aside for now, and refill again when the jars are empty. Once my supplies are used up, I'll take the empty jars to the health food store, have them weighed, and fill them up. No more waste! No more messy mismatched jars! No more buying duplicates! Did I mention I was in love?

If you're wondering which jars I used, they were the 4oz Ball Jelly Jars. (FYI, this is my Amazon Affiliate Link.) Be sure to measure your drawer height first before purchasing any jars though, to be sure they'll fit..

This is also my first attempt at a printable, so feedback is welcome! I made three versions, using the colors from my web design. If you use one, I'd love to hear about it!

Caesious, Aqua, and Spring Spice Label Printable

Caesious and Spring Spice Label Printable

Caesious and Aqua Spice Label Printable

Now I have an organized spice drawer for 2012. Next up, the junk drawer. And maybe some labels for my sewing supply jars, to spiff 'em up a little bit.

As much as I like how the jars LOOK, what I really love about this project is that it will allow me to be a little bit greener in 2012. Less wasteful packaging makes me happy! And hopefully buying at the bulk bin will save me a little green too. ;)

What are you organizing for 2012? Feel free to share your link in the comments!

I'm linking up at: