My Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

I have wanted one of these for several years.

My sis in law has one in her bathroom….I have mason jar envy every time I wash up! I’m too cheap  thrifty to buy one, I mean I have boxes of empty canning jars so it seemed like a lot of money to pay for an empty canning jar with a dispenser lid…but I still wanted one! lol  I even thought of trying to find just the lid for sale and buying only that. I didn’t think it would be possible to make the lid. But, some very creative person figured out how to make a lid from a plastic soap dispenser! I don’t know who the first person was. In the last month or so, I’ve seen these at almost every linky party that I’ve joined, made with clear or colored jars and different color dispensers. Some of the posts I read, linked back to Heather Bullard 

and she does have an awesome tutorial. So rather than do it all over again, I’ll just point you to her tutorial.

I followed her tut with a couple of differences. Oh, and after taking some careful pics (I remembered, even in my excitement), my camera card has decided not to share them with me…I can’t get my computer or camera to recognize that card…any suggestions?

So I have retaken  a few, but I know, it’s not quite the same! First, I liked the Oil Rubbed Bronze color better than the zinc for my kitchen, so after I glued the dispenser on, I covered the it with blue tape and gave the lid a couple of coats of ORB. I had originally intended to paint the dispenser the same, but I realized that with as much use as this would be getting in my kitchen, it probably wouldn’t hold up, so I left it clear.

I also found a one piece jar lid that I liked better than using the two piece ring and seal that I have for canning. This type of  lid can be found sometimes on a jar at the thrift store or if you purchase honey or some product in a mason jar at the store. I thought these might fit the jars,

but they don’t. :-( 

This is one of the easiest projects I have ever done and doesn’t even look like a knock off! I love easy!

***Thrifty Tip***

I would love to be able to fill my lovely new soap dispenser with an awesome smelling hand soap, but for the same reason I didn’t spray the pump ORB , I won’t…too much use! The soap would be gone in a day!

So, here’s how I make having hand soap in the kitchen a little more economical. First I buy an anti-bacterial hand/dishwashing soap (see it even says “hand soap” before dishwashing liquid!)

I buy it with a coupon and don’t like to pay more than .30 bottle! Then, when I pour it into my dispenser, I add half as much water and shake! The new soaps are all concentrated, but do the kids read the labels and think “Oh, I only need to use half as much as I used to since they have concentrated this”? NO! At least mine don’t…they push that pump down two or three times for good measure and then wash all that wonderful soap down the drain! So, by putting the water back in, they can pump away, and have a good water/soap mix and no one has ever walked away form the sink with hands that were still dirty!

Happy Hand Washing!

I’m going to take this to Ott, A’s party and share. She is having a canning/canning jar linky party with giveaways! Click the button below or in my sidebar to join me!