DIY Rae Dunn Inspired Treats Jar

I adore the look of the Rae Dunn containers. I just really do not want to pay for them. So I create my own DIY Rae Dunn inspired treats jar for the cats! Let me show you how.

Upcycle Glass Jars

I love taking something old and should be trashed and making it into something new. It is just part of the way I was raised. Why trash something that can be used again in a different way?

I keep most of our glass jars from the grocery. Pickle jars, salsa jars, you name it. If it comes in a glass jar, I’m most likely going to hold onto it. Same with wine bottles. I have an entire stash of those out in the garage to either craft with or to bottle homemade wine in.

For this DIY Rae Dunn inspired treats jar, I used an old sauerkraut jar. I just liked the shape of it for what I was using it for.

Keeping these things is not hoarding… no matter what my hubby may tell you. I typically find a new use for them within a few months. Trust me tho, I’m not going to keep them forever.

Remove Old Labels

I always remove the labels from all my glass before I put it into storage for later. It makes life a little easier that way. I can look at the jar and it’s shape instead of having to worry about what used to be in it.

I typically soak my jars in very hot water until the label starts peeling up. Once it does, I pull off the paper and see what is left of the adhesive. Most of the time, the hot water dissolves that too. If not, I grab a little bit of GooGone and use that to remove any residue.

Then, I run the jars through the dishwasher (lids also). Let them dry completely, put the lids back on the jars and then store. Unless you are going to make something immediately. Then just get to work!

Painting Glass Jars

I hate the look of brush strokes on my jar. Maybe I’m just a little OCD about it, but to me it’s just tacky. It never seems to cover evenly or thoroughly enough.

Instead, I take my acrylic paint and squeeze it around the inside of the rim of the jar. I then give it time to run down the sides. This seems to work better and give better coverage. You may have to repeat the process a few times to get all of the glass covered. It took me three separate applications to cover the entire inside of this jar.

Creating DIY Labels

I knew I wanted the Rae Dunn font for my jar, so I had to figure out where to find the font. Simple enough. I hopped over to DaFont and found The Skinny which is similar to her font, so that’s what I went with. I love all the free fonts available there, so make sure you spend some time looking around if you want even more fonts for your craft projects.

Measure your jar and decide how big you want your text to be. I wanted it to be 3 1/2 inches wide. So I opened up Word and turned on the rulers. Then I changed the font size to be the width I wanted.

After that, just print it out.

Once it’s printed, trim down the paper to just outside of the text. Leave a little white space so it’s easier to work with, but you don’t have to be too perfect about it.

Now, take a piece of packing tape a few inches bigger than your trimmed text and place over your paper. I typically make the tape a little bigger than I need so that I can fold a corner to make sure I can peel it back up off of my crafting surface.

Using the back side of a spoon, burnish the tape over the text. Not too hard, you do not want to rip the tape. Just enough that it’s adhered well.

Peel up the tape and drop it into a bowl of cool water. Make sure to push it down and submerge it well. Let it sit until the paper is completely saturated and easily rubs off of the tape. Gently rub until all of the paper is removed and then allow to dry. The adhesive on the tape with reappear when it’s dry.

Then just use the entire piece of tape to label your jar.

Painting the Jar Lid

Some container projects do not require the lid, like pencil jars or vases. This particular project I wanted a lid for. I looked around to see what I had on hand to use. There happened to be a can of Rubbed Bronze spray paint in the garage for another project I’m working on.

I laid the lid on a peice of cardboard in the garage and lightly painted the lid, making sure to get all of the rim and good even coverage across the top.

Assembly of the DIY Rae Dunn Inspired Treats Jar

Now I just put the label on the painted jar and twisted the lid back on.

Turned out perfect.

I love how this looks! It’s sitting on our mantel currently. I am going to make some Homemade Catnip Treats for the cats soon to fill it. For now, they just have to deal with the store bought ones we have onhand.

I hope this project inspires you to make your own containers. I’m including the printable for your own treats jars if you are a pet owner. If you want different labeling, have fun using your own choice of fonts and designs.