Operation Organization

Our spice cabinet used to be overwhelming. Like, 700 open bags of spices and multiple duplicates overwhelming. I mean, we had FOUR different containers of nutmeg and only one of us even likes nutmeg. Ridiculous. So I made it my mission this past weekend to sort through the mess of spices, get rid of anything past its prime, combine any multiples, and find a new storage solution that would work for both of us. I have to say, the whole process was surprisingly cathartic ;)

I don't have a proper before picture because I was too eager to get started, but here's how things looked after I purged about half of what we owned (picture spices stacked double height and crammed in every nook and cranny).

And here's where I ended up!

Visual sigh of relief. Also, finally a legitimate excuse to use adorable little mason jars. I've seen a few people do this with their spices and have always loved the way it looks. 

It was a fairly inexpensive task - a flat of 12 jars ran me less than $7. Then I just ran them through the dishwasher, loaded them up with spices, and used a white paint pen I had on hand to write the name of each spice on the lid. Easy!

I also considered chalkboard labels or craft paper labels, but in the end - a paint pen just seemed much easier and I really like the way they turned out.

On a related but much more unsuccessful note - I also picked up these containers at the dollar store to use for rice and grains in the cupboard. 

I thought it would be cute to use the Martha Stewart chalkboard paint I picked up ages ago (without any real purpose) to paint labels on the lids. 

False. Epic fail. Not impressed with your paint, Ms. Stewart. I let them cure for a full 48 hours but when I tried to write on the lid with a piece of chalk, the paint scratched right off. 

The label says it's appropriate for plastic but methinks not. Soooo a win with the spices and a loss with the rice. I'm calling it even.