DIY Magnetic Mason Jars Storage Shelf

Learn how to make a magnetic mason jar storage shelf that’s perfect for organizing crafts, personal care items, spices, or small essentials.

---

You can’t throw a stone in blog-land without hitting a mason jar post these days. Apparently, we crafty types just can’t get enough of them. Here at Mom Spark alone, I’ve done several mason jar crafts, including dying them with Mod Podge and food coloring and making them into solar yard luminaries.

But sometimes you need storage. And in this house, the room that needs it the most is my bathroom. I have a normal-sized vanity for a home my size, but it still lacks a bit of counter-space, what with that pesky sink in there and all. Anything I can put inside the vanity, I do, but there are some things I use so often that I get super irritated when I have to dig them out of the hot mess that space always turns into day after day.

Realizing that it would be very helpful to add a shelf, it seemed silly to waste all of the potential space underneath the shelf. And I know that this project is hardly revolutionary because I’ve seen this sort of thing on Pinterest a few times, but I don’t think they used magnets. And magnets are pretty cool.

Items Needed for Magnetic Mason Jar Storage Shelf

• Wood shelf & paint or wood stain.
• Ring rare earth magnets
• Mason jars with lids and rings
• Strong glue
• Steel washers
• Screws

How to Make a Magnetic Mason Jar Storage Shelf

Here is my shelf. It’s about 24 inches wide (on the top side) and was purchased for $6 at Hobby Lobby. With a 40% off coupon, I liked this particular shelf because of the crown moulding-esque shape.

1. Paint or Stain Shelf

Now, this is how well things sometimes go in craft blogging. I busted out my gloves and stained this puppy with Minwax gunstock, knowing good and well that it would turn kind of red on pine rather than oak. I was cool with that. But the front had this weird wavy thing happening with the stain. Unsure of what I did wrong, I decided to go over it with a darker color to correct…

 

…and I busted out my go-to Rustoleum Kona. And look at that nonsense. See those waves in the stain. Turns out it’s actually turned into the wood. When I rubbed my hand over it, those areas were actually raised up. And since no amount of staining was going to fix this problem, I decided to just paint the sucker white. Of course, it would still be noticeable, but not nearly as bad as that up there.

2. Attach Magnets

This little thing may look like a cheap little washer, but it isn’t. It’s a rare earth magnet in a ring shape (basically with the hole in the middle). This little bitty magnet is extremely strong, and it’s going to keep our jars up in place!

Place your jars lid side down and determine where they need to be placed to look good and fit properly. Mark the spots and place your rare earth magnet in one of those areas.

3. Secure Magnets with Screws

Secure the magnet with a screw (yes, things will try to stick as the drill has metal in it), but it’s nothing that can’t be done fairly easily. Continue adding your magnets across the length.

4. Glue Jar Rings

Grab those mason jars and remove the seal from the ring. The seal is the metal part that will say Ball Mason on it or whatever, and have an orange-y side. That orange side is actually wax, and when heated, it seals the jar so that the food inside is preserved for a long time.

At any rate, you’re going to put a healthy amount of glue inside the ring.

5. Place Seal Inside Lid Ring

Place your seal inside with the waxy side down.

6. Place Washer Inside Lid

Place your washer inside the lid and glue or tape it down. These are taped because they were an afterthought. A really darn awesome afterthought, though.

7. Allow Lids to Fully Dry

Allow your lids to fully dry according to your glue package directions before continuing. (I gave mine 24 hours).

 

8. Fill Jars

Fill your jars with the good stuff you need to keep handy and smack that sucker up against the magnet. You might be surprised at how much pull that itty bitty thing has on your jar. I have a full list of item ideas below. 🙂

9. Hang Shelf

Hang it up wherever you please and use the top side for more storage or decoration. I wound up using it for decoration instead!

I love having immediate access to my dental floss picks, cotton makeup removers, hair clips, and cotton swabs, too!

What to Fill Your Mason Jars With

Personal Care

• Cotton balls
• Cotton swabs
• Hair ties and clips
• Makeup sponges
• Travel-size lotions
• Bath salts
• Face masks (powdered)
• Nail care tools (files, buffers, clippers)

Craft Supplies

• Buttons
• Beads
• Ribbon scraps
• Sewing needles and thread
• Pom poms
• Glitter
• Paintbrushes (short handled)
• Small stamps
• Washi tape rolls

Kitchen

• Spices and seasoning blends
• Dried herbs
• Tea bags
• Coffee beans or grounds
• Baking soda
• Small candies or snacks
• Toothpicks
• Sprinkles and cupcake decorations

School or Office Items

• Paper clips
• Push pins
• Rubber bands
• Erasers
• Binder clips
• Crayons
• Sticky note pads (mini)
• Highlighters or markers (short)

Garage or Tools

• Screws
• Nails
• Washers
• Nuts and bolts
• Zip ties
• Sandpaper scraps
• Small drill bits
• Fuses

Miscellaneous

• Keys
• Batteries
• Coin collections
• Sewing machine feet
• Game pieces
• Pet treats

This shelf makes life so much simpler! I do wish that the hangers on the back of the shelf didn’t sit at an angle, rather than flush with the wall, but that’s something a trip to the hardware store will easily rectify.

Until then, I’ve got some popping going on in my morning routine (the lids pop like when you’re canning something when you pull it off of the magnet 🙂 and I’m so happy with it. ..even if it isn’t gunstock or Kona colored!