style house realty is moving and looking for inspiration from all over the web, in magazines, and on tv. the new office has a very cottage meets craftsman vibe. we are looking for some money saving, do-it-ourselves alternatives to buying things from off of the shelves– even in the small details.

we were scouring the web and saw a great idea for do-it-yourself soap dispensers that are easy to do and cost 1/10 of what it would if bought in a store. you can be creative with paint, materials, and even the jar to fit your personal taste and decor– so we thought we’d share this with you!

materials:

jar[s] of your choice with metal lid [you can try to find a lid in a different style that fits your jar]

soap pump of your choice [can even be a plastic pump from a lotion or old soap bottle]

marker

metal drill, hammer and nail, or screwdriver

plyers

scissors

hot glue and hot glue gun

liquid soap or lotion of your choice

how to:

if your pump is used and you want to clean it out, let is soak in hot water for a little while  and press the pump a few times until just water is dispensing. set aside.

start with your metal lid and mark a dot in the center on the top. take your drill, nail and hammer, or screw driver and puncture a hole where you marked the lid. flip the lid over and with plyers pull the broken metal open to make the hole wide enough to fit the tube of the soap dispenser through– but not wide enough to fit the top top of the dispenser!

from the underneath of the lead, seal the hole and glue the soap dispenser to the lid with a ring of glue from the hot glue gun. set aside for a few minutes to let the glue dry– but don’t worry, it dries quickly!

check the length of the tube of your soap dispenser to your jar. cut the length of the tube to fit inside your mason jar.

fill your jar with your soap or lotion.

screw on the metal lid turned soap dispenser.

enjoy your new dispenser and feel good knowing you spent next to nothing on a product that costs $20+ in stores!