Cupboard Clutter

After reading several blogs on organizing closets and pantries, I decided I needed to tackle a few of my own.  We started with one of our kitchen cupboards where we store bread crumbs, pasta and other crumbly items.  I was debating on the best way to organize.  One thing I was sure about -- gone were the days of big plastic dollar store canisters I used when I was in college.

Do your cupboards look as bad as mine did?

I decided to use old canning jars, mainly lightning jars to get my cupboard in order.  I have always been attracted to old bottles and since I am running out of shelf space, I decided that these cool lightning jars are a way to expand the collection in a functional way.  I am in no way an expert on the value of any jar (or anything old for that matter).  I just know what I like and I also know that I am a bargain Betty.  In other words, I'm cheap.  You won't find me paying $20 for a bottle or a jar because it's worth something. I don't buy old items with the intention of getting rich. I just buy what I like and what I think will look good in my home.

We found a bunch of jars at a shop last weekend and paid $5 each.  We were pretty happy with the purchase but then we went to good old Hub's Place -- a place that could easily make it on an episode of "Hoarders" if they didn't sell their junk.  They have stuff piled in the shop, out in their back yard on shelves (totally exposed to the realities of Northeast winters), and in a three-story warehouse.  It is a junk-lover's paradise and Jason and I are both addicted.

Good old Randy (we're on a first-name basis since we've been there three weeks in a row) gave us the jars for 25 cents each!  I could have given him a big old smooch on the cheek I was so excited.

After running the jars through the dishwasher, we pulled out the handy label-maker and labeled the backs of the jars with their new contents and placed them all on the shelf. 

Here are a couple of other ways I've seen people on the web organizing their pantries.  My Sweet Savannah revamped her whole pantry.  I like how she labeled everything on the front with vintage-looking labels.  She even offers up the website online where she found the labels so you can print them off.

Image: My Sweet Savannah

And then, one of her reader's, Tammi, was so inspired that she organized her cupboards too.  She used chalkboard labels to keep track of what's what.

If you decide to organize your kitchen cupboards, please share!  However you choose to organize, make sure you come up with a way to label everything and don't forget to keep directions on how to cook stuff.  Although we try to eat pretty healthily, we have a few "instant" favorites, namely "Stovetop Stuffing."  Jason was so excited about the jars that he threw out the directions on how to make it.  Needless to say that when he cooked dinner, I had soupy Stovetop.  I didn't complain though because I was just happy I didn't have to cook.

By the way, Atlas jars weren't the only things we found at Hub's today.  I'll be sure to post some of our favorite finds soon, but in the meantime I am happy to report that when we left Hub's Place today, we left without a single coffee can.  I'm not getting too excited . . . the weekend's not over yet.