Canning Paint

Wait! Before you think you can put your paint in a pressure cooker and actually "can" it, please read all of this! lol I do not want to be blamed for any kitchen explosions involving paint

This is something so simple yet it helps with storage space immensely. When we built a house two and a half years ago the painters left us with all the remaining paint cans. It equated to about three five-gallon containers and about six or seven gallon pails. Plus, I had some leftover paint from our old house that I brought with us in our move because it was good colors that I thought I may be able to use for crafty endeavors. I kept the bold reds from my old kitchen, the calming blue from the kids' old bathroom and the happy green from my old laundry room. Obviously, all of this took up a lot of space.

It does not take long and it does not cost a lot. I used quart Mason jars that I bought a dozen for around $10 at Walmart. You may be able to find them cheaper during canning season and of course even cheaper at yard sales (and maybe free from your mama, grandmother, or a friend). The lids come with them, but I have traded out some of the regular canning lids for these plastic lids I found on Amazon. (I recently saw some in the canning section at Walmart too.) I need to buy more because I prefer them and love using them for all the things I store in my Mason jars (of all sizes).

To do it, just make sure you thoroughly stir or shake the can of paint you want to transfer to a jar. I transferred cans that were less than half full. Remember, there are four quarts in a gallon but most of my cans had around a quart left. I did get into my large five-gallon buckets and stirred and stirred until it was mixed and used a plastic cup to scoop out paint to pour into a jar. I did this because these were main colors used in our house and I knew over time it would be much easier to get to when we needed to touch up.

I transferred all the information from the top of the paint can onto a label to place on my jars so I know the paint brand, paint sheen, color name, paint formula (because paint names come and go), what rooms I used the paint in, and even the date of when I bought the paint.

Why I like this idea:
1. It takes up so much less room than all the cans!
2. It looks prettier. I realize the colors will separate some and not look as pretty but they still visually look nice.
3. I hate how paint cans rust and when you open them later to touch-up the rust falls into the paint. Yes, I said "hate". I don't usually use that word unless it's something I reeeeeally HATE.
4. You can reuse the jars for storing more paint or for something else when you use up the paint.
5. When touching up, it's easier to shake and mix up a smaller container of paint.
6. It is also easier to walk around with a jar of paint and a foam brush instead of a bulky paint can. I usually use craft brushes for small touch-ups as I'm lazy and hate detest cleaning up regular paint brushes. I could use the "h" word here again but won't. ;)
7. You can just unscrew the lid and not go find a screwdriver or one of those paint can openers when you need to get to it.

Recently, a rather dark mark mysteriously appeared on a wall in our garage entry/kitchen area. It was in one of those places where it was VERY noticeable. Things like that drive me crazy. I tried cleaning it off with a couple of different things with no luck. Finally, I found the canned paint jar whose label said was the main level paint color.

I shook, shook, shook, then got a foam craft brush and used just the paint in the lid to cover the spot. I proceeded to walk around the house like a detective looking for more places to repaint. Hey, you know how it is. When you get in the mood or the gumption to do something like that you have to take advantage of the situation. It was nice to go ahead and touch up a few other inconspicuous places that no one else would have noticed but I had seen over the last few months.

It was easy peasy to take care of and that's why I like it among all the other reasons I gave above. Try it out yourself and see how much better it works out for you!