Sometimes it seems like my family never does anything halfway. It's a good thing most of the time :) We like to have a year supply of everything from Kleenex to apple sauce to bottled water. Spices are no exception. Why make a mess when you can make a MESS?
Mom buys almost all over her spices (ones for stove-top and baking) at the little Amish run bulk food store. We used to be able to see that store from our front porch, but a newly married amish man (one who actually helped to build our house) is building a house of his own right between up and the store. But, you get the idea: it's very close by.
Anyhow, Mom bought two large tubs of both cumin and garlic powder and me and the young ones spent our afternoon bottling it up. It's better to keep anything and everything edible in glass rather than in plastic (especially if you plan to let it sit for a couple months or more) because plastic often leaches chemicals into the food.
The only tools we used: jars, lids, rings, measuring cups, funnels and the chopsticks Mom brought back from her mission in Japan when she was twenty-one. She brought a lot of things back with her from her mission like the recipe for the best gyoza (pot stickers/Chinese dumplings) EVER. That recipe is a must-blog for sure.
I love having lots of spices on hand. The ones I use the most are Nutmeg (apple muffins, rice pudding, pumpkin cake, etc.) Curry (curried lentils & rice, Japanese vegetable beef curry, etc.) Garlic Powder (corn chowder, stir-fry, ranch dressing, etc.) and Cinnamon (granola, molasses cookies, oatmeal cake, etc.)
Other baking spices that we keep on hand: allspice, cloves, ginger, etc.
Other stove-top spices that we keep on hand: onion powder, cumin, parsley, sage, oregano, cilantro, paprika, bay-leaves, etc.
