# pest control, what other great uses do you know for empty jars?



## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

GREAT IDEA!! FOR BACKYARD FUN, NO BUGS!! ( found this on face book)
There was some discussion a while back on getting rid of mosquitos. While there's lots of products out there, here's one way to do it, have a stylish yard and keep the costs down too.

All you need is a package of Mason jars, (or baby food or any jar!) some cotton string and some liquid citronella (find it in big jugs at any home-improvement store and even some grocery stores). Use a hammer and nail to poke a hole in the top of the lid, then pour in the citronella, put the top on and drop in the wick. Allow the string about 10 minutes to soak up some oil, then place them around your backyard and light them!


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

im thinking you can use regular lamp oil too for lighting in a pinch!


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

URGENT: Please update your post to note those were not NEW mason jar lids - even if the were new, say they were not! If Mrs Inor finds out you poked holes in new mason jar lids she may very burn up some of my frequent flyer miles to go to LA and whomp on you! I know this from my own experience - It wasn't pretty! :-D


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

shotlady said:


> im thinking you can use regular lamp oil too for lighting in a pinch!


Too smokey for indoor use. They would fine outdoors. Lamp oil or kerosene requires that you really be able to control the length of the wick to get the most light without turning the inside of your house black.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

They can even be made more attractive in the yard by using PVC tubing from the hardware store to turn them into "Tiki Torches".
I get 2" schedule 80 PVC and split one end into four "petals" and use a propane torch to bend the pedals first down 90 degrees and then back up 90 degrees leaving a ledge for the jar to rest on. You can weave "grass" around the top and down the length of the pole or paint it. (or you can be lazy and just leave the PVC white as it comes from the store - like me)


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## Tundra Dweller (May 18, 2013)

shotlady said:


> GREAT IDEA!! FOR BACKYARD FUN, NO BUGS!! ( found this on face book)
> There was some discussion a while back on getting rid of mosquitos. While there's lots of products out there, here's one way to do it, have a stylish yard and keep the costs down too.
> 
> All you need is a package of Mason jars, (or baby food or any jar!) some cotton string and some liquid citronella (find it in big jugs at any home-improvement store and even some grocery stores). Use a hammer and nail to poke a hole in the top of the lid, then pour in the citronella, put the top on and drop in the wick. Allow the string about 10 minutes to soak up some oil, then place them around your backyard and light them!


Can a person put food colouring in these to make em "pretty"?

Please tell us you didn't buy those for this very reason.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

The same contraption can water your plants if you go on vacation. Instead of oil, fill it full of water and extend the wick to any potted plant and press it a few inches into the soil near the main stem. The water will slowly wick to the plant and keep it happy. Flow rate is controlled by the string size, and you can use several for larger plants.

If you don't mind how the jars look, leave them in place all the time and you will know when to water with a quick glance.

Sigh. My GF just read this over my shoulder and is now tittering on about "plastic canvas" and "cozies" and chick colors like chartreuse, teal, and taupe.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

Prepadoodle said:


> =Sigh. My GF just read this over my shoulder and is now tittering on about "plastic canvas" and "cozies" and chick colors like chartreuse, teal, and taupe.


Could you please translate? (Plastic canvas? Cozies? Chartreuse? Teal? Taupe?) - This is family website! No need talkin' dirty!


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Well, as I understand it, "plastic canvas" is what they call a "craft item." I'm told that you can poke string through it and make useful items like tissue box covers and the like to give as gifts so people have stuff to sell at yard sales. I now suspect this whole tissue camouflage idea is a clever strategy designed to make tissues blend into the "decor" and become almost invisible. It's so effective I never bother to look for them because I know where there's a roll of toilet paper which does the same thing. <shrug>

I looked up "cozy" and when used as a noun it seems to mean, "A padded or knitted covering placed especially over a teapot to keep the tea hot." (thefreedictionary.com) From this I gather that it's sort of like a hat. I looked under all my hats and didn't find any tea pots, so I dunno.

My monitor displays 16 million colors, and I'm guessing my GF has a name for each one of them. So I'm gonna Google this and see...

OK, if you Google chartreuse (thank goodness for spell check) images, I get anything from yellow to light baby pea puke green. The closest Pantone I could locate was for "bright chartreuse" which any sensible person would simply call #B4CD3B or RGB 180,205,59. There may be a "dumb chartreuse" too, but I can't find a picture of that or any variants such as "developmentally challenged but quite capable in other ways chartreuse" or whatever.

"Teal" seems to be a bluish-green. I don't know why they can't just say, "bluish green" and be done with it, but many womanly things are a complete mystery to me, and for this, I am thankful!

Sad to say that, even after extensive Googling, "taupe" remains somewhat of a mystery. Pantone shows at least 18 variants ranging from Taos Taupe to Plaza Taupe, but never bothers to list a plain old regular taupe. This isn't that big a deal since all 18 of them are pretty much sand color to me.

I suspect women invented taupe and other goofy girl colors to prevent men from becoming interior decorators. This is fine by me because the only interior decorating I do is draping semi-clean clothing over various pieces of furniture. That and occasionally creating silly images like "Swiss Army Gun" is about as much artistic expression as I can tolerate.


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## longrider (Mar 25, 2013)

It looks like a great idea, no matter what color. I'll try to avoid using "new" lids.:-o so that Mrs.Inor doesn't thump my head. Anything to keep the flying blood suckers away!


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

these jars are a dime a dozen at the flea market by the gun range. great for crafts!!!


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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

I am sorry I dont have pics of the finished item's but,(I threw them away some time back)we once bought a six pack of miller light in the screw top cans just for the novelty and ended up doing the same thing with them.just drill a 1/8th hole in the top and get some tiki wicks.


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## jillconell (Jul 24, 2013)

This seems to be a great mosquito repellent. I used it at my place in the garden and there were very few mosquitoes that day. Also there are other such mosquito repellent methods that are available at http://termitesvic.com.au/pest-control/exterminators/ online.


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