For quite some time now, I’ve wanted to find unique containers to hold dog treats and, well…human treats on the countertop. Until now, the box of Milkbone dog biscuits has been sitting by the pet station. I’ve had my eye out for containers for quite some time, and didn’t find anything I liked, so I decided to make my own. It was quick, easy, and cheap.
I found the containers at Hobby Lobby. I believe they were $12 each, but of course, I had a coupon. Then I used scrapbooking stickers made of chipboard, painters tape, and white spray paint.
After taping off a rectangle with painters tape, I used the chipboard stickers to spell out “(human)”. I initially wanted them to say “dog treats” and “human treats”, but there wasn’t enough space. Oh well.
Then I wrapped the container in a plastic shopping bag, and taped the opening of the bag around the area that I had already taped off.
And then used white Rustoleum Painter’s Touch paint in a flat finish…
…and gave it about three light coats of paint.
I love how they turned out. Now obviously, I would never do this with something that would get tons of use, or that would have lots of little hands (or lots of adult hands, for that matter) handling them, or that would need to be washed regularly (or at all, really).
My initial plan was to etch the area first, and then paint it so that the paint would have something to “grab” onto, giving it a better chance at staying put. But after searching all over for my etching cream with no success, I gave up and threw caution to the wind.
I really don’t foresee myself touching the fronts of these containers anyway. The lids will be handled quite a bit (especially the dog treats…at least once per day), but there’s really no reason for me to ever touch the fronts. So I’m hoping that it’ll last a good, long time!
If the paint just won’t stay on, then perhaps I’ll consider having some custom vinyl labels made. But I really like the dimensional effect of the thick chip board letters!
Most of all, I’m just glad to have the dog treats out of the big red cardboard box and conveniently stored in something a bit more attractive!
I'm a self-employed interior decorator-turned-blogger, and a DIY fanatic. I hope you enjoy your visit here at A2D! If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to 
This is a great idea! I can't wait to try it myself.
Very nice! Hm…creative juices flowing…if you ever did find the etching cream or spray, you could do the same thing and then peel off the letters when you pull off the tape.
Yep, I love that look. That's what I did on my dish soap bottle: http://blog.addicted2decorating.com/2011/02/ive-always-wanted-to-try-this.html
It's a much more subtle look. I wanted a shot of bold with these treat jars.
I love this post..
These are so cute, how are the holding up? I am going to do the dog treat one for my daughter.
Lori, they're actually holding up perfectly! I just never touch the front of the jars…not because I go out of my way not to touch the fronts, but because it's just not where I naturally grab the jar to open it.
Darling! I am so making these – some for flour, sugar and coffee too! Great idea!
I love these…look great! Maybe you could re-tape/re-bag and spray some acrylic sealer on them so the paint won't chip off? If they're holding up though, I don't know if I'd want to risk re-taping