Mason jar soap dispenser DIY

Ugh. The common cold is a cruel invention of nature.

To ease some of the pain associated with the awful cold I came down with this week, I had to solve something around the house! Our fancy high-tech sensor hand soap dispenser in the kitchen broke down the other day, so it needed a replacement. Now, I don't think I've emphasized this enough, but I'm a HUGE fan of trash-to-treasure/upcycling/call it what you will. (a.k.a I'm cheap and too lazy to go to the store.) So I wanted to try to pull this off using only stuff I already had at home.

First, the jar. That was easy: dug this little gem out of our recycling bin. Note "Classico" pasta sauce actually has a pretty nifty mason jar behind the label, which came off pretty easily with the scrape of a razor blade and some Goo Gone. The expiration date printing comes right off with acetone nail polish remover. And, it's nice not to jump on the Ball mason jar bandwagon like everyone and their mother ;)

Next, the pump. I have a stash of identical shampoos and conditioners (...thanks, Costco...), so just took the pump from one of them.

Punching a hole in the lid big enough to fit the base of the pump was the hard part, and I almost caved here and bought a 3/4" drill bit. Crisis averted: I ended up using the biggest drill bit I had to start the hole, then a Dremel with cutting attachment to cut slits, and pliers to peel them up to make the hole bigger:

Then sealed the pump into the lid using a hot glue gun:

Thankfully, trimming the pump tube to fit the jar was a lot easier...just good ol' scissors.

Wrapped up the stem with newspaper, and sprayed the top with spray paint. (Had some leftover from when I painted heating vent floor registers to match our carpet.)

Now the best for last! Faux mercury glass. Pretty much followed this nice tutorial from Vintage Fragment to a tee. Just did 2 layers, and really happy with the results.

So here we are! Yes, I realize the side-by-side comparison doesn't quite make sense because the jars are different sizes, but I'm sick, ok?! Cut me some slack.