If you are a home preserver, you know this struggle is real: what to do with your collection of used canning lids? The metal lids can only be used once for safety reasons. Yet, you can’t seem to bring yourself to toss them. After a few seasons, you find yourself up to your ears with little metal lids. No worries: here’s a simple craft that will upcycle those used lids into a fun, educational game for little ones.

Supplies

• canning lids
• chalkboard paint
• magnets
• paint brush (not shown)
• scissors (not shown)
  

Paint

Cover your work surface with paper towels or newspaper. To keep these lids from sliding around, place a bit of masking tape on the back before you put them down on the paper. Paint the lids with the chalkboard paint. You will need to do a few coats to get them sufficiently covered. Your first coat of paint will look streaky, but this is normal. Let the paint dry in between coats of paint.

Add Magnet

Cut the magnet into 1-inch strips and adhere it to the back of the canning lid. You can use any type of magnet. We used a roll of magnet “tape.” It has a sticker surface on one side. It’s a medium strength magnet. If you want to use these on a refrigerator, get a stronger magnet.

Decorate

At this point, you can use chalk to write whatever you want on the surface. Since this particular project was for a preschooler to use, we decided to use chalk markers to write the alphabet on the surface. Chalk markers will resist smudges from little fingers. A lightly dampened cloth will remove the chalk marker if needed.

Display

Canning lid magnets are perfect for many household uses. Use them to label spices and other pantry items. If the containers are not metal, swap out the magnet backing to double sided tape. Use the canning lid labels to organize craft supplies and tools. Or, punch a hole at the top and wire them onto a popsicle stick to use as a plant label.  After this canning seasoning, save those lids to make more labels next year.