A few months ago I started seeing these cute Mason Jar Travel Cups all over the place. They’re inexpensive and the easiest craft you’ll do this year but I had to wait a few months before I could make my own DIY Mason Jar Travel Mug.
So why is that? Why did I wait? Because Ball Mason Jar lids used to have BPA in the lid. It was in the clear plastic coating that protects the bottom of the metal lid from rusting when it’s in contact with liquids. It was sad that so many people were making and using these jars to be safer by using glass but really each time their drink splashed against the bottom of the lid they were getting a small dose of BPA. But the best news is that this week Ball Jars announced that their lids are now BPA free! I was going to wait a few more months before buying them to make sure that the lids I was buying were BPA free but today I saw them at the store, clearly marked as BPA free, and I couldn’t wait any longer.
This project is easy and very fast.
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Supplies needed to make DIY Mason Jar Travel Cups:
- Mason Jars – I used Wide Mouth Ball Jars 1.5 Pint size
- A drill
- Rubber Grommets
- Wooden shims or small piece of scrap wood
A word about the rubber grommets:
These can be hard to find. I found them at Lowe’s in the section where they have the thousand drawers full with different sizes of nuts, bolts, and everything small that I usually loose. You need grommets that are 3/8″ and you should be able to judge their size through the package to make sure that you can get a straw through them. You can also order them straight from Amazon.com and get 25 of them for a lot less money – 25 Rubber Grommets 3/8″ Bore Diameter 5/8″ O.D.
Then you could make a lot of them to give as gifts for teachers, neighbors or as a very inexpensive shower attendance gift.
How to Make DIY Mason Travel Jar Cups:
Start by drilling a hole in the lid of the jar in the place where you want the straw to go. Some people like it to the side and some prefer it in the middle of the lid.
When it came time to drill the hole I placed the lid over the wooden shims so that I could drill all the way through the metal and into the wood. Do not hold the lid between your thumb and fingers to drill into it. When the drill spins, so does the lid which could badly injure your hand if it got away from you. I just placed my hand flat over the top of the lid and held it securely that way.
Drill a hole all the way through the metal lid. Any jagged pieces of metal that are left around the edges can be removed by manipulating your drill bit against those edges to use it like a file.
Once you have a clean hole through the metal push your grommet down into the hole and against the sides to make it have a nice secure fit.
Love this project? Check out this DIY Tumbler with Free Cut File!
If you’re worried about breaking the glass mason travel cups, check out these super cute jar jackets that you can put over the mason jar!
I love the idea and want to make one, my only question is how do you keep it from rusting? If you could please get back to me on that.
Thank you
I just wash the metal part by hand and then dry it immediately. There’s a plastic lining underneath the lid so the liquid in the cup doesn’t really hit the metal, it’s just washing it that you need to watch out for.
hello, what size mason jar did you use here? i’m looking for something that will fit in my daughters car seat and or our cupholder in the car. the regular size doesn’t fit, but this looks like it might. Thanks!
I have been looking everywhere for this still canning jar with no luck. Where do you find these?
We bought these at lowe’s. It’s a wide mouthed canning jar.
I love this idea! I’ve been wanting to make some of these for awhile now – great tutorial!
Thanks for linking up on Cook it! Craft it! Share it! again this week!
ang
Love this! I use mason jars for travel all the time but having a lid would be awesome.
Hello, I have made these before and I have to say I am embarrassed to not know about the BPA, though that was not an issue for me. I took an old silicon mat for baking (it was the wrong size), used the lid as a pattern and cut out the circle, then cut a small x for the straw. Then I used the band to keep the new silicon lid in place. For my toddler, I put the metal lid over the silicon so she would not push it through (yeah learned that the hard way). I have a lot of plastic lids for Mason jars, I am thinking about using them. Thanks for the instructions, I was using a paper hole punch (lasted through 2 metal lids).
Do the rubber grommets contain bpa? I can only find vinyl rubber grommets at a local hardware store. Would that be ok you think?
Yes i got them at the hardware store as well. I would think that they are so small that you’re going to have to fill the drink all the way up to have any contact with them.
Does the black insert stop what’s in the jar from spilling if the jar happens to tip over?
It is not going to totally stop it because there is a little space. However the spill will be minimal, if at all. I’ve knocked them over before and it doesn’t always leak.
Are the plastic grommets food safe? BPA free also?
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