Recycling Projects Using Large Cans

There are so many things that you can do with large cans. They’re great for organizing, storing, building blocks for children, crafts … There are so many things that you can do with large cans that we wanted to start this page to give our readers some ideas. If you have a project or idea for using large cans that we haven’t listed here, please feel free to leave a comment.

Decorate Your Recycled Can

You can cover the outside of your recyled can using any of the items or methods below:

  • wallpaper sample or scraps
  • decoupage pictures
  • decorative napkins
  • aluminum flashing
  • mosiac using broken dishes
  • mosiac or glue on buttons
  • mosiac tiles
  • paper mache
  • gift wrap
  • construction paper
  • book cover
  • decorative contact paper
  • paint

Bank

Cut a thin rectangle out of the lid using a craft knife. Decorate your new bank however you like.

Craft Storage

Store craft & sewing supplies in large cans with or without a lid. Use labels or pictures to identify what’s in each can.

Flower Vase

Set a jar or water glass into a decorated can.

Hanging Vase

Paint or decoupage as many clean aluminum cans as you will want for vases. Punch a hole near the top of the can with a nail and fill half way with water. Hang on picture hooks and place flowers or greenery in each can.

Kitchen Utensil Holder

Prepare plaster-of-paris or cement according to package directions. Pour 1 to 2-inches of plaster into utensil holder to make it more stable. Allow to dry before adding kitchen utensils!

Magnifying Waterscope

Use a can opener to remove both ends from a large can. Cover the sharp edges on both ends of the can with strong tape such as duct or masking tape to protect your child and prevent the plastic wrap from tearing. Stretch plastic wrap over one end of the can and secure with a rubber band, then wrap tape around the can to secure the rubber band. Tip: to get a better view line the inside of the can with anything black, such as black paint, craft foam or construction paper.

Dip the covered end of the can into the water and look into the can from the open end. The pressure of the water against the plastic wrap curves it, making it into a magnifying lens!

To make your waterscope more fun place objects in the water to view or take your waterscope to a tide pool.

Make Life Easier

Keep your small survival items in a large coffee can stored in your trunk and/or in a convenient place in your home.

As a campfire cooking utensil you can boil foods in the can and place the aluminum lid directly on your coals as a fry pan.

Store candle stubs.

Use cans for mixing custom paint colors then just snap the plastic lid on to store. Don’t forget to dab a bit of paint on the outside of the can to make finding the color you want easy. If you’ll be storing your paint for longer than a week or two seal the lid with tape to make it airtight.

A plastic lid from a large can will make your next painting job less messy. Cut a slit in the center of the lid and pull the paintbrush handle through the slit so that the brush is on the side of the lid with the lip. Dip your brush in the paint and slap away at the wall just like you normally would only this time there won’t be any drips down the handle of the brush or splatters on your hands or eyeglasses.

Pantry Storage

Store opened dry goods in cans that have reusable plastic lids such as empty coffee cans. Leave them right in their paper or plastic bags, just drop into the can & label, or pour into can, cut label off original container & tape to can.

Safe Bank

Glue a few of the original potato chips to the inside lid of the can. Keep it in your pantry as a safe place to store valuables. Few burglars will even bother to glance twice at the can, but if they do they’ll see the potato chips through the lid and hopefully won’t bother to open the can. As further insurance instead of gluing chips to the lid you can put your valuables inside, then stack chips on top of them. It will be harder for you to retrieve your goodies when you want them but they will be safer from prying hands since the can will look and feel more like a real potato chip can.

Tip: don’t use this method to store heavy valuables as the can will feel too heavy and be a dead giveaway that there’s more than potato chips in it.

Safe Mailer

Use an empty container with its original lid to mail cookies, other baked goods and breakable items. Just fill with goodies, securely tape the lid in place, wrap in plain paper, address and mail. Don’t forget to label your package “Fragile”, although I label all my packages “Breakable” and “Glass” to ensure they are treated gently.

Stilts

Turn two 1-pound coffee cans upside down so that the plastic lid is on the bottom. Leave the lid on as it will help to protect your floors. There are several ways to attach foot or hand holds:

Spread epoxy glue on the bottom of two old shoes or sandals that are large enough for your kids to put their feet into. Attach shoes to the metal top of the now upside down coffee cans. When epoxy is dry your kids can put their feet inside the shoes and take off.

Using a nail poke two holes, one on each side of the can about half and inch from the top. Thread several strands of ribbon or string that have been braided together, or some rope, through holes in cans. Tie a knot inside the can. Kids can stand on the cans and hold onto the rope handles. They’ll need to practice lifting each foot with the corresponding rope to be able to walk in their stilts.

Cut an old belt into six-inch lengths so that you have 4 lengths for each pair of stilts. Nail one end of each length to the top of each can so that there are two straps on each can that are spaced so that a child can slide his/her foot into them. You might want to start by having your child stand on a pair of cans while you position and mark the straps. After nailing the straps in place (without the child’s feet in them!) turn the cans over and bend the nails down.

Wine Rack

This project can be made using aluminum or cardboard cans. I used a mix of coffee canisters and oatmeal canisters. Give them a rinse. Spray with three coats of paint. Let dry completely.

Use just a bit of tape at the mouths of each canister to connect three canisters together for the base. Do the same with two cans for the second tier. Glue each row of canisters together with clear silicone or any other strong glue, then glue the row of two cans to the row of three cans and top the two can row with one can. When glue is dry, remove the tape and you have a wine rack for FREE – whee!

more great recycling ideas

Activity Tray for Childrens Craft Kits

I have a stack of old cookie trays that are way too grungy to use for baking but I like to use them for messy crafts like making beeswax candles and arts and crafts painting projects. One day when I was using a tray for a magnetic kids game (to keep all the pieces from getting spread out all over the floor) it occurred to me that I could at least make the tray pretty by covering it with some left over contact paper. All I had was plain white contact paper which after covering one side of the tray with it I accidentally discovered that the white contact paper worked great with dry erase markers. The kids could write directly on the contact paper, wipe it off and start all over with a new design. This opened up a whole new idea for me – Kids Crafts Trays!

Then I remembered that I had some chalkboard paint leftover from a home office project, which I then used to paint the other side of the cookie tray. I’ve since discovered that there is also a chalkboard contact paper that you can use if you don’t want to bother with painting on the chalkboard surface. Now I had a tray that the kids could use with dry erase markers on one side and chalk on the other side, and of course the tray itself works great to take along in the car, on the plane, in hotel rooms for childrens craft kits, craft projects, magnetic games, etc.

Victorian Christmas Ornament

If you’re into making your own homemade Christmas tree ornaments then this unique Christmas ornament is worthy of a true artist and yet an elementary school child can also end up with a beautiful ornament.

Note: because this easy Christmas ornament uses a glass light bulb please do not leave your child unsupervised while working on this project.

Materials:

  • burned out incandescent light bulb
  • dishwashing liquid cap
  • water or soda bottle plastic cap
  • decoupage items such as photos, magazine pictures, etc.
  • ribbon and decorative trim scraps
  • gold, silver or copper wire
  • heavy duty crafters or jewelry glue
  • metallic paint pen or metallic paint to match your wire
  • acrylic enamel paint
  • crackle medium (optional)
  • clear shellac or varnich
  • hot glue
  • old color beads of choice (1 for the bottom of ornament and 1 flat bead for the top center)
  • rubbing Alcohol or white Vinegar

Wipe the light bulb with a little rubbing alcohol or white vinegar and a piece of cotton from a vitamin or med bottle or a soft cloth. Allow to dry.

Wash bottle caps with hot soapy water and allow to dry.

Using a small nail, poke a small hole in the center of the soda cap. Bend wire into a U-shape and thread both ends through the hole in the cap. Secure the wire ends on the inside by twisting together. Now you have a hanger for your ornament.

Using heavy duty craft or jewelry glue, glue the soda cap to the socket of the light bulb and the dishwashing liquid cap to the bottom center of the bottle cap. Allow the glue to dry.

Paint the glass portion of the light bulb with enamel paint. Paint the socket section, the bottle cap and dishwashing liquid cap with a metallic paint. Allow paint to dry and apply additional coats if needed.

Glue your decoupage items to the painted light bulb.

Follow the manufacturers instructions to apply a crackle finish. When crackle finish is done apply a small amount of an antiquing medium such as burnt umber paint. Allow this to dry and then apply 2 to 3 coats clear shellac or varnish. Do not apply clear protectant to the metallic painted areas, as the varnish will dull the metallic paint.

Use hot glue to apply small pieces of decorative trim to hide the socket area and disguise the dish-washing cap.

Glue a bead to the bottom center of the ornament.

Note: you can leave the dish-washing liquid cap either open or closed. If you decide to leave it open, place a dot of glue inside the cap to keep it from closing.

Recycled Candy Wrapper Art

Wait – don’t toss out all those candy wrappers! Halloween is a prime time to collect recycled candy wrappers for art projects all year round. I’ve listed a few ideas below but I’m sure you all can come up with many more. Please post your ideas, successes and failures in the comments section.

Ribbons and Bows

Cut each recycled candy wrapper to the same width and tape to package as a decorative ribbon. You can then loop each length of candy wrapper and tape or glue it to the package as a bow. You can face the shiny side out or the writing side out.

Decoupage

I hardly ever buy silver leaf anymore. I just use recycled candy wrappers and recycled potato chip bags.

When carefully opened and washed the shiny side of these wrappers can be used in a decoupage or collage project, or to simulate a body of water in a doll house or Christmas gingerbread house.

I like to use recycled candy wrappers to cover smaller surfaces or surfaces like a frame where a long skinny shape is best. I use recycled potato chip bags for larger surfaces such as pots, trays, etc.

Antique Foiled Frame

I’ve covered scratched wooden frames with the shiny side of recycled candy wrappers. First crumple the candy wrapper. Smooth with your hands. Cut to fit, and glue to the frame. Wipe the foil with brown or black shoe polish to age it.

Contemporary Foiled Frame

Cut wrappers into squares or rectangles. Glue pieces to frame, butting together or overlapping.

Mod Frame

You could use the packaging label side to cover a frame for a retro mod look.

Decorative Tray or Box

Any of the ideas above can be used to cover a tray or box. I’ve used candy wrappers to cover a tissue box, then I use the box to store spare change.