Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Spice Drawer - remake...or overhaul...

...I'm ashamed to say that this is the jumbled mess that my spice drawer had become...

...most of the bottles are not even original as we get almost all of our spices in bulk (thanks E!) - and them being old and plastic - well, they just needed to be replaced with some nice smaller glass ones...

...so I ordered 50 little glass jars from Specialty Bottle - and at only 37¢ each they were quite the bargain - I could get glass spice bottles here but they were $1.99 each and they didn't have 50 of them...so even with the $15.00 shipping these were a much better deal...

...then, I found these adorable printable labels at Just something I made but obviously had to make some more of my own - so I emailed the lovely Cathe Holden and she said that I could refashion them into my own spice labels - wasn't that nice!

...I just used my madd cut and paste skilz (HA!) and used Cathe's pretty border images - downloaded a new font (algerian) and printed them off on label sheets...

...it was a messy hour or so job - but somebody had to do it...

...I even used the test prints as drawer liners - I'm just all frugal like that...

...now we're all a whole lot happier with the new drawer - it doesn't get stuck - and (for now anyway) the spices are arranged alphabetically - if you're going to organize something you may as well go 100%...

...so where do you keep your spices? - I'd love to see it...

26 comments:

  1. I love what you did with your spice drawer! I really like the size of the jars you ordered as well.

    Mine are currently in a small recycled wood clementine crate on top of my stainless steel shelving. Our cabinets need replacing and some of them are inoperable at the moment...

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  2. Trust me you don’t want to see my spice cupboard- your drawer is really inspiring though- I’m jealous.

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  3. What a wonderful idea!! I love it, your spice drawer definitely looks beautiful and I'm sure it inspires wonderful cooking :)

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  4. Beautiful! That looks great! I dry a lot of our own spices - things I can grow in the garden - and get the rest in bulk from an awesome local italian deli. So, I keep ours in canning jars too, but just pint/quart (so I can save whole leaves) and have them in the pantry.

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  5. Inviting spices... sure helps the cooking

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  6. Oh gosh!! Much prettier than my plastic Tware ones!! Thanks for sharing such a neat idea!

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  7. Oh ma' goodness...that is organizing heaven. I LOVE it. I have a very thin, long rack that hangs inside the pantry door, just deep enough for spices. It's loud, and I'm not in love with it because the girls grab at it. A drawer like this? Now you've got me thinking...

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  8. You've seen mine. Really scary. I love your idea. I did clean one set of shelves this morning waiting for it to warm up outside. It was 41. MOM

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  9. how entirely cool! i'll have to do something similar - mine is a much bigger mess than yours was, though! love, k

    p.s. enjoyed my walk in the woods with you!

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  10. My spices are not in order at all. You've done such a great job of yours that I may just have to copy. I never would have thought about ordering those little jars on line...can u send me a link? Once again you've done such a super job. I just love things when they are all organized :-)

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  11. I am literally drooling over the idea of such beautifully organized spices!

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  12. This looks so professional. Not only are the jars cute (posh bed and breakfasts give you jam etc in exactly the same jars!) But you can secure the tops and see what's in there.

    The secure the top is important - the air full of clouds of spice as that little pot flies through the air is a very penetrating experience!

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  13. OMG I'm not showing you mine but yours is awesome ! Congratulations !

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  14. This is epic!!! What a great idea and how clean and neat they all are! I'm with your last poster, I am so not showing you my spice cabinet right now. I too get most of my spices in bulk from Penzey's and refill old jars so it truly is an exciting trip one takes when they venture in the cabinet...Love the labels and the drawer liner, really sweet.

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  15. Ohh, I love this! Can you come and organize our spices next time you are in NC? We have a spice rack on the inside of our pantry, we also have a spice holder on our counter AND a shelf in a cupboard filled with spices! The spices in the rack are alphabetized.

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  16. This is a really inspiring post. I have a huge mess in my spice cabinet at the moment & have been refilling many different shaped used jars. I like the uniform look of yours. It makes cooking so fun when your this organized :)

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  17. Your drawer looks great! Those little bottles are adorable and your labels are quite professional : )

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  18. I love how you "redecorated" and reorganized your spices-awesome and so lovely to see everytime you open the drawer. I am decluttering and I may need to use your wonderful idea!
    Peace, Angela

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  19. This is amazing! I'm green with envy!! Come do mine??

    Can you shoot me an email? I have lost your email address!

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  20. Can you share your labels (without the spice names)? I can't find them on Cathe's website. Mine are all in stainless steel containers but the Container Store doesn't carry them any more so I have to move to something else. I like your glass jar idea!
    jtjireland@cox.net if you can send me your labels! Thanks for sharing
    Tracey

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  21. These are beautiful! The labels make such a difference, I think, and I bet those cute little jars are convenient and space-effective.
    We keep our spices in a metal wire box, and we keep that box on top of boxes of brownie mix and fruit snacks in the bottom shelf of one of our very crowded kitchen cupboards. We like to be prepared, see, so we have more stuff than actually fits in our house. ;)

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  22. If I buy you a plane ticket will you come organize my (huge) spice shelf????

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  23. Those bottles are adorable. Love the labels, too. I just cleaned my spice cabinet today myself; I was happy that I threw out some old stuff and wiped out the cabinet... and then I see what you did! Wow! So nice to have all your spices in a drawer in one layer or row like that. I often have to take five or so bottles out of the cabinet before I find what I am looking for... you are so sharp!

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  24. Anonymous10:36 AM

    I just stumbled across this post but what a fantastic idea! As soon as I get an extra minute in my day, I'm going to try this same thing. I love the idea of my spices being in glass instead of plastic.

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  25. WoW! I'm so jealous! My spices are a mess and I grumble every time I need something. I need to jump into action.

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  26. Hellow my BLOG FRIEND! Do you know that you are my BEST blog friend?? LOL!! You always leave the BEST and SWEETEST comments!!! Thank you so much!!!

    I absolutely LOVE your drawer now. I'm so in love with all of the labels and beautiful drawers! My goodness you did an AMAZING job!!!

    Have a SUPER BLESSED day!
    Much love!
    Tiffany @ Easie Peasie

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