Recyclable Art

 

We have been a whirlwind of activity this week.  We are steadily (thankfully not frantically... yet) finishing up our 4-H projects. This year we did a project in recyclable art.  I was extremely happy with the results! 

Since they turned out so cute and were very manageable for my 10 and 12-year-old boys, I thought I would share this craft with you. 

Materials needed:

Clean coffee, soup or any metal recycled can

Stencil or template

Marker

Hammer and nail

Candle

Wire for hanging

Spray paint

Step one:

Using your stencil as a guide, place dots on the can.  We used a star and  just placed the dots around the template so that the shape of the star would be recognizable.  If your really talented, you can freehand it or have your children make their own design.

Step two:

Fill your clean can with water (leave room for expansion) and place in the freezer.  Freeze till solid.

Step three:

Lay a thick towel down on a hard surface. (We just used the kitchen table.)  Place your frozen can on the towel.  Take the hammer and using the nail piece holes in the can where you placed your dots.  This was super easy to do. Since the metal was cold it pierced really easy.  I'm pretty sure young children could do this very easily with the help of an adult.

Step four:

Let it melt and then dry it off really good.

Step five:

Spray paint. Let dry.  We applied about 2 coats.

Step six:

Run a wire handle through the top.  **Don't forget to punch holes for this while the can is frozen.  We did forget on one and it was pretty hard to get holes in after the can had thawed.

 

We were able to make every bit of ours from recycled materials.  We used paint from a previous project.  Wire that Joel's work place was throwing out. And candles using recycled glade candle holders and chunks of old pillar candles. 

The last thing I did was to put velcro (the very thin variety) on the inside bottom of the can and on the bottom of the candle so that the candle wouldn't slide from side to side.

And there you have it, a pretty luminary! I'm might just have to throw a bon fire party, so that I can hang these beauties up in one of our trees and watch them glow!