I was on Facebook recently and was sent a targeted ad for a chemical formula salt and pepper shaker set. I thought it was so cool and would be a great gift for someone I knew, so I clicked though. But when I got there and actually looked at it, it was pretty lame.

For the salt shaker, it had “Sa” for the symbol, not NaCl. And for pepper, it has “Pe”, most likely because that’s a lot easier than C17H19NO3.

Easier, sure, but wrong. And I couldn’t think of actually giving something so wrong as a gift, regardless of how cute it was.

So, in normal Lisa fashion, I decided to make a DIY Chemical Formula Salt And Pepper Shaker Set. I love how it came out. So much better than buying an incorrect set.

DIY Chemical Formula Salt And Pepper Shaker Set

What You’ll Need:

• 2 empty shaker bottles
• Black glitter
• White glitter
• Mod Podge
• Paint brush
• Tape
• Black acrylic paint
• White acrylic paint

What You’ll Do:

Wash and clean the shaker bottles, if you have them. Mine are actually upcycled bottles from Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Seasoning (that I buy for 2 Ingredient Dough bagels). If you don’t have them, you can buy a blank set on Amazon.

Tape off a small section at the bottom of each bottle.

Paint that with Mod Podge.

Sprinkle one shaker with the white glitter and the other with the black glitter. Let it dry overnight.

Paint a second layer of Mod Podge over each, then add a second layer of glitter. Let that dry overnight as well.

Peel off the tape. Paint a final layer of Mod Podge. As you may have guessed, let that dry overnight.

While that is drying, though, you can (carefully) paint the chemical symbols on one of the sides of each bottle.

Let it dry. Fill it with salt and pepper and you’re done.

Love science?