I buy clear glass salt and pepper jars all throughout the year. And well, any jar about that size with a lid. I even buy some larger jars from time to time to just hold my lose buttons until I need them. Like the large canning, glass jar in the back, right side of the pic below.
Sometime around fall, I start making my button jars to sale in my Booth #555 at the Peddlers Mall. I'm not sure why I wait till then, but it just seems to happen each year. Or maybe because it's right after yard sale season around here, and I've had time to collect a bunch.
And sometimes I even find them super cheap, marked down to fifty cents per set. And I'll grab a few. But they usually have the bright shiny stainless looking caps. And for that I add some Delta Stencil Paint with a sponge. It sets up good after a few days and doesn't tend to rub off. Looks like this after it's on, (but not dry yet.)
These are not great money makers, but they are steady sellers. And they offer an inexpensive item for your booth that anyone walking by would be able to afford. Most of these, unless they are older more hard to find jars, I try to keep them priced at only a $1.99 each. And when I've rounded up the salt and pepper shakers from yard sales all summer, usually along with tons of buttons from auctions and estate sales, I only have a few pennies and time in each.
Here's some more I had just painted:
And here's one of my favorite old rusty topped ones. The top was originally rusty, so I just had to add a pale yellow star and some homespun, along with the buttons.
As you see, there's nothing hard at all about making these cute empty jars into button holders. They are a great item to just "tuck" into that spot where nothing else seems to look right. And they'd look awesome sitting beside an old sewing machine with items such as bobbins and pin holders and maybe a hand sewn doll!
Happy Crafting Ya'll!