5 Ways to Decorate With Apothecary Jars
Apothecary jars, also known as vintage amber bottle jars, are glass containers of different shape and size that come with a lid.
There are two main types of apothecary jars; transparent ones that are built in more complex shapes, and amber ones that look more like bottles. The latter ones may have a flat glass lid or a glass balloon shaped lid. Originally, these containers were designed and built to hold pharmaceuticals and herbs.
Today, apothecary jars are growing in popularity and are used for decorative purposes in our homes and gardens. They are beautiful display objects that can be used in so many different ways.
I only discovered the beauty of apothecary jars a month ago, when, in an attempt to convince me to buy the largest bag of Hershey’s Eggies, my 6 years old daughter told me she wanted to display them in a jar in her room so she could offer them to her friends when they came over for a visit. She got her bag of chocolate eggs, and I took on the challenge to find a good looking bowl for this oversize bag of chocolate! After some research I discovered the fascinating world of Apothecary Jars!
So I bought her a gorgeous transparent apothecary glass jar that looks fabulous in her room with all the little eggs pastel colours!!
I kept looking and I found amazing containers of different shapes, sizes and colours for different applications. There are hundreds of ways to use these apothecary jars so by no means this is an exhaustive list of ideas on how to decorate with apothecary jars. I simply collected ideas and categorized them in 5 main groups!
Let’s get started!
1.candy jars
Photo Credit: HGTV
Photo Credit: Factory Direct Craft
These pictures all show transparent glass apothecary jars containing candies of some sort. I even found a company producing apothecary jars, (miniature cookie jars), for dollhouses; they would be perfect in your home shelves for plant’s propagation purposes!
Photo Credit: Style Me Pretty
Photo Credit: Brit + Co
The last two pictures are perfect examples of how you can use apothecary jars as thoughtful home and handmade tasteful gifts or party/wedding favours. While the delicious content can be easily consumed quickly, the container can be re-purposed in so many ways!
These are not just gifts and party favours, these are beautiful items that can be displayed anywhere!
2. beauty jars
Photo Credit: Wayfair
Photo Credit: Restoration Hardware
Both pictures show transparent glass apothecary jars used for beauty products, even though the styles are completely different.The first type of lidded jar is closer to what was originally used to preserve herbs, while the bottle shaped ones where originally used for pharmaceutical purposes.
While they can both be used to contain the same type of products, one shape may be more suitable to one style on bathroom that then other and vice-versa.
Photo Credit: Restoration Hardware
This is another example of bottle shaped apothecary jars. For these products, Restoration Hardware has used amber glass, which is very similar to the original colour used for the apothecary jars containing pharmaceuticals.
This is a very beautiful colour that add richness to any bathroom is placed in. This particular amber tone work really well with whites, off-whites, warm greys and greens!
Photo Credit: Couvertoure and the Garbstore
Photo Credit: Freckled Hen Farmhouse
Apothecary jars used as candles containers have become extremely popular these days. I love each and everyone of them as I am a candle and aromatherapy fanatic to start with; and in this case I get to re-purpose the jar once I burn the whole candle. Most of the times I place another candle in it and place it on my shelves. I love to add a touch of dark brown and amber to my plant shelves as the contrast between brown and green is not only beautiful, but also rich!
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3.terrarium jars
Photo Credit: Schneiderman’s
Photo Credit: Doodle Birdie
Terrariums in apothecary jars are beautiful! They are not simple home decor objects; they are living and growing systems in a jar. The two pictures here above show sealed terrariums examples.
Now, don’t fool yourself, while these pictures are beautiful, sealed terrariums, depending on the environment they are placed in and the type of plant used, can become quite moist and create a lot of condensation on the glass container walls. If these jars are not regularly and properly cleaned, they can grow mold and algae.
The ideal plants to grow a terrarium in a sealed jar, (closed with a lid that can be opened for maintenance and care purposes), are tropical plants that can adapt to the humidity created by a closed environment, such as ferns, mosses, orchids and air plants. These plants, once planted into these closed jars, create their own water cycle. For this reason, the humidity in the container is high and watering is not required very often at all!
Photo Credit: Ken Marten
Photo Credit: ShopTerrain
The apothecary jars here above show two example of open terrariums. However, terrariums in apothecary jars are not very common as the beauty of most apothecary jars stand in their ornated lids. Such lids, complete the composition of the jar and are an integral part of the whole jar design.
4. floral jars
Photo Credit: DelightFull
I love the idea of using these beautiful apothecary jars as flower vases or simply placed in a shelf or a table next to plants and flowers. The richness of the amber colour contrasts so well with all tones of green!
5. creative jars
Photo Credit: Decoholic
Photo Credit: Modish Store
Apothecary jars are beautiful objects that have been used for years in many different decorative ways. Whether they are transparent ornate glass or amber bottles, there are many uses for them.
Some people use them to display their collections, such as; rocks, shells, feathers, (I collect wine bottles corks!). Some use them in their kitchen to seal and display in a fancier way their spices, or different shapes of pasta. I have seen pictures of a beautiful display of three different citruses, (lemons, limes and mandarines), in three different containers.
Another way to use these jars, is to create a group of the same jars and contents to be placed on top of tables or cupboards to fill the space in a very decorative way, as shown in the picture below.
Two symmetrical apothecary jars with the same content can also be placed at the extremities of mantles, console tables or on the floor on the sides of fireplaces and console tables, if the the jars are oversized!
The sky is the limit when it comes to decorate with Apothecary Jars!
Photo Credit: Kelley Nan
I hope you enjoyed this blog and found it informative!
Send me any questions you may have and I will be glad to get back to you with an answer!!
Cheers,
Cecilia
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