The Hack That Makes Pouring From A Mason Jar So Much Easier

Mason jars are a staple of modern life, and have been since their invention in 1858. It was then that John Landis Mason, then only 26 years old, patented the air and water-tight design for glass jars with threaded screw-tops as an alternative to sealing foodstuffs with wax, which was messy and prone to failure. This brilliant invention has, in the decades since, gone far beyond the intended purpose — being just as useful for decorating and storing bathroom goods as they are for keeping food fresh. However, if there's one problem to take away from the general design of a mason jar, it's that the wide-mouthed rim can make it difficult to pour liquids back out of storage.

If you're looking to get a more precise pour — perhaps for oil, perhaps for syrup, perhaps to celebrate the winter season by using your family's homemade eggnog as part of a holiday cookie recipe – it might be more cumbersome than it's worth to break out the funnel or other extraneous tools. Luckily the collective minds of the Internet have come up with a unique solution, with a hack that makes mason jar pouring easier. And it couldn't be easier: All it takes is turning your old milk cartons into a DIY crafting material.

The mason jar hack in question was shared by TikTok user @neat.caroline in 2022, specifically to pour almond milk for tea while filming alongside her cat, Sweetie. She starts with a standard half-gallon cardboard carton, drawing particular attention to the side of its triangular top that features the plastic screw lid. By cutting that face off of the carton with scissors, and then flattening it by trimming any folded edges, she's able to lay out the cardboard top and draw out the interior shape of her mason jar's sealing ring. The circular shape can then be cut away, leaving you with a ring of cardboard that can be attached to the top of your jar with its own resealable pouring lid.

A hack such as this mason jar lid is not only easy to create with items you likely already have around the house, but it also leans into the eco-friendly aspects of utilizing mason jar containers. Unlike one-time use tin cans or other similar containers, mason jars can be repeatedly washed and reused to store food in a variety of environments — though you'll want to be careful with jars that might crack when placed in the freezer. A cardboard drink pouring lid can also easily be recycled after you're done with it, leaving you free to use that same mason jar for patio lighting or any other home improvement goal on your to-do list.