How to Stain Wooden Lids With Food Coloring

If you like the look of a stained wooden lid but don't like the idea of using a product that contains harsh chemicals to color your lids, then you need to check out this easy project!

Here's What You'll Need:

Wooden Lids (Large)
Food Coloring
A Pair of Pliers
Sealable Plastic Bag
Paper Towels
Water

Step 1

Remove the plastic fitment from the wooden lid. Make sure you pull it off gently so you don't damage it.

Step 2

Pour about 6-8oz of water into the plastic bag, just enough to cover the lid (or multiple lids if you're doing more than one at a time).

Step 3

Add food coloring to the water. The amount you'll need will depend on how much water you have in the bag. For this one lid, we have added about 15-20 drops. After you add the food coloring, seal the bag and swish it around until the color is evenly dispersed. (Keep in mind that this project will not necessarily yield dark, rich colors. This is meant more for just a light tint to the light-colored lids).

Step 4

Put the lid(s) in the water mixture, remove most of the air from the bag, and seal it. It helps if you take any excess part of the bag and fold it over the top of the bag like in the picture. This will assure that the water covers most of the lid and fully saturated the wood.

Step 5

Duplicate these steps as many times as necessary depending on how many lids you are coloring and how many different colors you choose to do. (You CAN put multiple lids in a bag at a time. Just make sure you have enough water and food coloring to completely cover all the lids). I have picked a walnut brown, green, pink, and blue for my lids to show you the different range of colors you can use for this project. Once you have all of your lids in the plastic bags, let them sit for about 12-24 hours to saturate them completely. It helps to swish the water around every few hours and turn the lids over to make sure they're coated evenly.

Step 6

After the lids have soaked for several hours, remove them from the plastic bags and lay them out to dry on some paper towels. It will take a few hours for the lids to completely dry.

Step 7

And that's it! She had so much fun making these with me, and I loved getting to watch her little mind work and figure out how to complete all these steps. As you can see from the picture, she was SO proud of herself! She kept smelling each jar saying, Mmmm! That smells SO good!" We ended up putting one of the jars in her bedroom, bathroom, and the living room and it makes the whole room smell so good!

That's It!

Now it's your turn to try this for yourself! We'd love to see pictures of your creations! If you post your results on social media, make sure you tag us and use #lscscommunity to see your pictures on our Lone Star Community Page!