Holiday Coffee Can Crafts

Here's a colorful coffee can container you can make. This project will let you save your favorite holiday cards and enjoy them for years to come. At the same time, it keeps your treasures in one place so you can find them.

To begin, collect as many old holiday and birthday cards as you can, and ask your parents to save you a cleaned-out coffee can with its lid. You may also need some adult help in cutting out the cards with the pictures that you want saved.

Materials Needed:

1. Old holiday or birthday cards

2. Glue that will adhere to paper and metal

3. Scissors

4. Zig-zag trim or ribbon

5. A bead or pompom or an extra-small ornament (for the top cover)

6. Rubber bands

Cover your work table with a layer of newspaper for easy cleanup and then lay out all the materials that you will need for this project. The first thing to do is to cut up the cards, choosing the pictures that you want to save. For example, if you have a Christmas card showing a person skiing down a hill, you might want to use this picture on your treasure-can container.

Carefully use your scissors to cut out that scene. You can cut the scenes in shapes, like rectangles, triangles or ovals; the different shapes scattered around the can look great. After you've cut out about 20 or 30 different pictures, it's time to lay it out and see how well the colors and shapes look and fall together. Remember, the pieces should overlap, so that when you finish your project you won't see any of the can at all.

The card pieces stick more easily to the can when they are curved a little before gluing, so roll each piece over two of your fingers to give it a little curve. Then, when you glue it down, it doesn't try to pull itself away from the can. Glue pictures all around the bottom, then slip a few rubber bands over them to hold them in place as the glue dries. Continue to add your picture cards in layers, and don't forget to overlap each picture a little so that none of the can is showing. After you complete the middle layer of pictures, add some more rubber bands over the cards to hold them in place as well, and keep doing this all the way up. Leave the elastics on overnight to make sure that the glue is totally dry.

Once the can is fully covered with the card cutouts that you chose, it's time to add some trim and decorate the cover. Add either some thin ribbon or zig-zag trim to the top and bottom of the can. You might also use some around the cover. Then glue an ornament, a pompom,or a bead to the top center of the cover as a final decoration.

Now that your treasure can is completed, look it over to make sure you haven't left any spaces uncovered, then set it aside to dry overnight.

Your treasure-can art project looks wonderful and will be a great conversation piece for years to come. One final tip: if an adult has some clear lacquer or polyurethane, ask him or her to paint it over the can's outside for you. This clear finish will seal the cards up so that they won't get dirty or torn over the years. It's not a necessary step for your project, just an extra to do if your parents have any available. Let an adult do this step for you, because this stuff is strong and very smelly and needs to be done outdoors.

Now you have a place to keep your special treasures, and you made it yourself.

Article by Homesteader.