- Glass spice jars are perfect for small, slim, or loose items — cocktail picks, food colouring, sprinkles, and more.
- They work well for small kitchen utensils and accessories, but not full-size tools like spatulas or whisks.
- Beyond the pantry, spice jars are surprisingly useful in the bathroom, at the desk, and in the craft room.
- Label every repurposed jar so your system stays intuitive and easy to maintain.
- Glass holds up better than plastic for food storage and is easier to clean thoroughly.
- Can Spice Jars Organise Kitchen Utensils?
- Cocktail Picks and Party Accessories
- Baking Extracts and Food Colouring
- Fridge Condiment and Sauce Portions
- Sprinkles and Cake Decoration Supplies
- Dried Garden Herbs and Homemade Spice Blends
- Bathroom Cotton Buds and Small Accessories
- Desk Drawer Essentials
- Craft and Hobby Supplies
- FAQ
Can Spice Jars Organise Kitchen Utensils?
Yes, with one honest caveat. Spice jars are a brilliant solution for small utensils, accessories, and tools. Cocktail picks, toothpicks, bamboo skewers, and cake pop sticks all fit comfortably inside a standard glass spice jar. For full-size kitchen tools like spatulas, whisks, or tongs, they are simply too small.
That is not a limitation so much as a reminder to use the right container for the job. Spice jars shine at corralling the tiny, easy-to-lose items that make kitchen drawers feel chaotic. Once you start looking at your home through that lens, you will find uses for them in practically every room.
Here are eight specific, practical ways to put them to work.
1. Cocktail Picks and Party Accessories
What small kitchen utensils fit inside a spice jar?
Cocktail picks, toothpicks, bamboo skewers, and cake pop sticks are ideal candidates. They are slim, lightweight, and almost impossible to store neatly without a dedicated container. A glass spice jar keeps them upright and visible. Decant a handful of each into separate jars, label them clearly, and your entertaining drawer goes from a jumbled mess to completely sorted.
It is a small change that makes a real difference when you need a toothpick quickly in the middle of cooking or setting up a platter for guests.
2. Baking Extracts and Food Colouring
Can I store vanilla paste and baking extracts in a spice jar?
Absolutely. Small quantities of vanilla paste, almond extract, peppermint essence, and gel food colouring all fit comfortably in a glass spice jar. This is especially useful if you buy extracts in large bottles and want a smaller working amount within easy reach during a bake.
Glass is the right material here. It does not absorb odours or leach anything into food-grade ingredients the way plastic can over time. Seal the lid tightly and store in a cool, dark cupboard.
Gel food colouring bottles are notoriously awkward shapes that take up more drawer space than they deserve. Moving them into uniform glass jars makes your baking drawer look like it belongs to someone who genuinely has things under control.
3. Fridge Condiment and Sauce Portions
Can you use glass spice jars for salad dressing or condiments?
Yes, and this is one of the most practical uses on the list. A small glass spice jar makes an excellent container for homemade salad dressings, dipping sauces, hot sauce blends, and compound butters. Make a batch of lemon vinaigrette on Sunday, portion it into two or three jars, and you have grab-and-go portions ready for the week.
Glass is non-reactive, so it will not affect the flavour of acidic dressings the way plastic might. Rinse, wash, and reuse indefinitely. It is a low-waste habit that fits naturally into any meal prep routine.
4. Sprinkles and Cake Decoration Supplies
How should I organise sprinkles and cake decorating supplies?
If you have ever upended three separate bags of sprinkles hunting for the gold star ones, this tip is for you. Glass spice jars are the right size for sprinkles, sugar pearls, edible glitter, nonpareils, and any small cake decorating supplies that come in fiddly, hard-to-reseal packaging.
Decant them into jars, label each one, and line them up in a drawer or on a small shelf section. You can see exactly what you have at a glance, grab what you need quickly, and the lids seal tightly enough to keep moisture out.
Savvy & Sorted spice jars with bamboo lids close flush, so sugary sprinkles do not work their way into the lid thread and make it sticky over time.
5. Dried Garden Herbs and Homemade Spice Blends
Can I use spice jars for herbs I dry at home?
This is the most natural extension of the jar's original purpose. If you grow thyme, oregano, rosemary, or lavender in a garden or on a windowsill, glass spice jars are a beautiful way to store them once dried. You get the same tidy, cohesive look as a curated spice collection, except the contents are entirely yours.
The same logic applies to homemade spice blends. Your own taco seasoning, za'atar, or dukkah deserves a proper home. Put it in a labelled jar, add a date, and treat it like the quality product it is.
Pair your jars with Savvy & Sorted spice labels for a consistent, professional finish, or use blank pantry labels to write in whatever custom blend or dried herb you have created.
6. Bathroom Cotton Buds and Small Accessories
Can spice jars be used outside the kitchen?
Yes, and they look just as good in the bathroom as they do in a spice drawer. Cotton buds, bobby pins, hair ties, safety pins, and small hair clips are a natural fit. Line a few jars up on your bathroom shelf or vanity counter and the same calm, organised aesthetic you have built in the kitchen carries through to the rest of your home.
This works particularly well in small bathrooms with limited drawer space. Instead of a cluttered tray or a tangled bag of bobby pins, you get a tidy row of clearly labelled containers that look intentional rather than improvised.
7. Desk Drawer Essentials
What desk supplies can you store in a spice jar?
Paper clips, binder clips, push pins, rubber bands, and spare earring backs are all strong candidates. These are the items that end up loose at the bottom of every junk drawer in the house, impossible to find when you actually need them.
Spice jars give each of them a home. The clear glass means you do not need to open every container and rummage around. Keep a small tray of labelled jars on your desk or in your top drawer and your most-reached-for supplies are visible at a glance, every single time.
8. Craft and Hobby Supplies
Can I store craft supplies in glass spice jars?
Seed beads, sequins, small buttons, embroidery thread bobbins, and mini stickers are a natural fit for glass spice jars. The clear sides make colour sorting easy, and the tight-fitting lid means you will not tip an entire bag of seed beads across your craft table mid-project.
If you sew, scrapbook, or do any kind of detailed handwork, a row of labelled spice jars on a shelf is a far more satisfying system than a bag of mixed, tangled supplies. Group by type, label clearly, and your craft space becomes somewhere you actually want to spend time.
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Pair It With Acrylic Spice Rack Drawer Organizers Tiered acrylic inserts that make every label readable at a glance from above. Designed to fit Savvy & Sorted spice jars perfectly. Shop the Rack Set → |
Available at savvyandsorted.com and Amazon
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I store in spice jars besides spices?
Glass spice jars are useful for a wide range of small items. In the kitchen: baking extracts, gel food colouring, sprinkles, cocktail picks, toothpicks, and homemade spice blends. In the bathroom: cotton buds, bobby pins, and hair ties. At the desk: paper clips, push pins, and rubber bands. In a craft room: beads, buttons, and sequins. Any small, loose item that benefits from being visible and contained in one place works well in a spice jar.
Are glass spice jars better than plastic for storage?
For food storage, glass is the better choice. It does not absorb odours, does not leach chemicals into acidic ingredients like citrus dressings or baking extracts, and it cleans more thoroughly. Glass holds up over time in a way plastic does not. It will not stain, warp, or develop a hazy residue after repeated washing.
Can spice jars hold kitchen utensils?
Yes, for small ones. Cocktail picks, toothpicks, bamboo skewers, and cake pop sticks all fit comfortably. Full-size kitchen utensils like spatulas and whisks are too large. Think of spice jars as the right solution for anything in the "small, slim, and easy to lose" category of your kitchen toolkit.
How do I label spice jars when I use them for non-spice items?
Clear labels with simple text work best. Consistent labelling across your jars, whether they hold cumin or cotton buds, keeps the look intentional and the system easy to follow at a glance. Pantry labels work for both food and non-food items, so you can carry the same aesthetic from your kitchen drawer to your bathroom shelf or home office desk.
How many spice jars should I buy at once?
Buying in a set is almost always more practical and more economical than buying individual jars. A 24-pack gives you enough to cover your full spice collection and have extras to repurpose across the rest of your home. Uniform jars also look far better than a mix of mismatched sizes and shapes, which is really the whole point of building an intentional organisation system in the first place.
