DIY Magnetic Spice Jars – For Organizing and Freeing Up Counter Space

We don’t have a lot of counter space in my new kitchen. And the cabinets we have are small. Not to mention our kitchen isn’t exactly a modern one – after all, the house we are renting is over a hundred years old. So counter space is a commodity. But with a boyfriend who likes to cook, spice jars can quickly clutter what counter space there is.

I have long loved the idea of magnetic spice tins and had planned to craft some for our new space. However, after really digging into reviews, I found that many of the tins don’t seal tightly which has led to issues with the herbs staying as fresh as possible. There were also stories of sea salt ending up in solid blocks in magnetic tins. Unable to find tins that had great reviews for this purpose, I decided to instead use the original jars my spices came in – or buy empty glass jars with screw tops – and instead make them magnetic.

This is what I started with. Spice jars lined up on the counter. I went ahead and bought some basic spices in jars just to get started, but I’ll be refilling these with bulk spices and herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs so I can buy organic and save money.

I then made new labels for my jars just for fun. Of course, new labels are optional. But they can be changed from time to time. You can either decoupage labels or make your own. I made my own labels by hand drawing the type of herb or spice onto whole sticker label sheets I purchased in bulk from Onlinelabels.com. I used a ruler to mark how high on the sticker paper the labels should be then drew my images and wording within that section with permanent Bic Markers.

The existing labels I could get off of my spice jars I peeled off. The ones that wouldn’t come off easily I left on. I then removed the backing from the sticking paper.

And adhered my new labels to the jars over the old ones.

I then took some E6000 Glue to affix two 25 Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets to the back of the jar. (I bought my glue and magnets from Candy Tiles on Etsy.)

And then allowed the glue to dry completely.

Once the glue dried all the way, I was able to place my herbs and spices on the side of the fridge for easy access and clear up some counter space. Alternately, you could also hang a spice tin wall base on a wall in an area you’d like to store your spice jars.

Now everything is right where we need it and we can easily add more jars to the side of the fridge as our spice and herb collection grows.

What types of things have you done in your kitchen to organize and save space?