Crafter Covers A Plastic Jar With Paint And Pistachio Shells To Make A Cute Storage Container

If you're a creative person, chances are you like to upcycle items that other people would only think to throw away or toss in a recycling bin. For example, a lowly plastic pasta jar and some discarded pistachio shells would certainly be garbage to most people, but Instagram creator @pooja_crafts1 shows how they can actually be converted into an adorable container. With a little time and creativity, you can create something worth showing off.

This DIY only requires a few supplies. You'll first need a plastic jar, plus a handful of washed pistachio shells. Make sure you remove stuck-on jar labels to avoid a rough texture once you've finished the project. You'll also want various acrylic paint shades, an adhesive such as E600 or hot glue, and several paintbrushes of different sizes. 

Begin by painting the jar with your chosen color (she uses bright yellow) and allowing it to fully dry before gluing pistachio shells, curved side up, onto the jar. Place the shells sparingly around the jar, then transform each shell into a strawberry: Paint the entire shell red, add a green stem at the top, and finish with fine white dots. Let each layer of paint dry fully before moving on to the next detail. The final step is to wrap twine around the mouth of the jar. Once completed, the jar is completely transformed into a one-of-a-kind container.

This adorable and highly accessible DIY craft can be put on display in a number of spots around your house once complete. You can use it as a flower vase for real or artificial flowers, as the creator did, or put it to work holding markers, scissors, and other crafting supplies. It could also live on your office desk as a pencil cup or to corral paper clips, pushpins, and other desktop clutter. Looking to expand upon this type of DIY? Here are 35 other genius ways to reuse plastic containers around your home and garden.

While the cute strawberry aesthetic is undeniably adorable, there are all sorts of different ways to style your pistachio-covered jar. Paint the body of the jar whatever color you want to, or paint it in a striped pattern for an extra visual pop. Use a colorful ribbon in lieu of the twine around the mouth of the jar. As for the pistachios themselves, you can paint them so that they look like ladybugs or bees for an insect theme. You could also turn the pistachio shell scraps into stunning fake cherry blossoms or arrange the shells in a fanned-out circle, and paint them white with a yellow center, just like everybody's favorite daisy. If you are enjoying the process of resurrecting old jars and pistachio shells, you can also combine them to make dazzling lanterns.