Transform Old Glass Jars Into A Garden Rain Gauge With An Easy DIY

There are many ways to turn old glass jars into home treasures. In addition to making them into adorable home decor, there are also DIYs that turn them into educational and functional pieces for gardens. If you have a spare mason jar that's the right size and shape, you have the perfect piece to craft a homemade rain gauge.

This easy DIY is a great way to embrace more hands-on living while educating yourself on local weather and a quick and simple outdoor use for old Mason jars. It's easy to set up using all common household materials. Once placed outside, this impromptu device gives you consistent access to rain readings, even when the Wi-Fi is out. There are several perks to making your own rain gauge. For one, you can embrace your interest in meteorology without splurging on a pricey automatic model. Plus, the manual design is straightforward to monitor and doesn't require any special training to read. Once crafted, your only job is to empty them after rainfall.

The other perk of this DIY is that it's customizable. Glass jars have a kitschy appeal and have more style than store-bought, test tube-esque, manual rain gauges. You can paint the outside or decoupage decor to give them a personalized look that better fits your space, especially if you have a garden filled with other cleverly reused old household items.

There are only a few prerequisites for executing this project correctly. First, you can't use any old jar to make a rain gauge; it must have straight sides, be at least 2 inches high, and have an opening that's about the same diameter as the jar's width. This means hot sauce bottles, which often have a narrow spout, won't be suitable for the job, neither will any jar with a bulbous bottom or top. Usually, a large sauce or canning jar will fit the bill.

In addition to the jar, you'll need a plastic ruler, as well as clear tape. You'll also need a funnel to keep measurements precise — it may not seem important, but it is vital to getting accurate readings. A funnel prevents liquids from evaporating outside of the jar, as droplets will condense on the funnel and end up sliding back into the jar. To make the rain gauge, place the ruler against the side of the jar, making sure it's flush with the very bottom of the jar, and tape it into place. So the funnel can nestle inside the jar, you'll snap or cut the portion of the ruler that's outside the jar, then place the funnel. 

Make this DIY more character-enhancing for a patio or garden by dressing up the outside. As long as your embellishments don't block the jar opening, you can decorate the jar as you wish. Of course, keep in mind that this design will be exposed to rainfall, so you should use a water-resistant paint or decoupage labeled for outdoor use to attach stickers or printouts around the outside. Just make sure you can still see enough of the jar to determine the rain levels.