Recycled Tin Can


We bought a giant can of peanuts a while back at Big Lot. After my husband devoured them, I was about to toss the can in the trash when I realized it wasn't the usual foil lined cardboard, but was instead a full fledged corrugated metal can. It looked just like a big old coffee can with its resealable lid and all. So I knew I had to save it, if for nothing else than to throw nails in it in the garage. In my mind, I thought I could do something a little snazzier, though.


Probably the hardest part of this project (and not all that hard) was a step that I didn't get any photos of--removing the glue after I ripped the label off. It was that hard non-sticky label glue. My usual go to for excess glue is goo-gone. I sprayed it on the glue and waited a minute--nothing happened. So then I grabbed a butter knife and started to try to scrape it off. I didn't make much of a dent. Then, I decided to run the glue under hot water. This made the glue tacky again and I was able to scrape off most of the glue with a little bit of elbow grease and a pan scraper. After the hot water and scraping, most of what was left was sticky residue. Then I was able to use the goo-gone since sticky residue is its true strength. After I got the glue cleaned off, I set the cleaned can in a box and selected some spray paint.


I sprayed several light coats. The paint I selected is a hammered bronze. It has a bit of a texture to it, so it took a little more paint and a little extra drying time to cover the can than I'm used to.


Once it was dry to the touch (took about an hour and a half instead of the usual 10-20 minutes), I brought it inside to cure. I set it on a piece of tinfoil to dry for several days. The can turned out pretty good, but still looked very much like a tin can, so I knew I had to jazz it up somehow. I selected a striped washi tape from my stash and wrapped it around the top and bottom of the can (on the flatter sections). The great thing about washi tape is that I can peel it off and try out a new tape if I get sick of the stripes.


So now I have a can that I can store things in inside the house and not just in the garage. I'm pleased with how it turned out, but if I get another giant can of peanuts (or coffee) I'll probably decide to paint it a bright non-metallic color to further the illusion that it is no longer a "tin can."



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