Recycle, upcycle, re-purpose or re-use aluminium cans
There are hundreds of ideas for using aluminium or tin cans, but I wanted to put together a collection of recycling projects that are unique, yet still practical and can easily be done. After scouring literally hundreds of sites, I came across these wonderful ideas...
marthastewart.com
Here's a nifty way to upcycle tin product containers into practical storage containers that can be mounted onto the door or a fridge or a metal board. Use epoxy glue to attach magnets to the back of the tins to make it easy to stick them anywhere metallic. And you can also use plastic containers as well.
Coffee-holics will love this project that uses large coffee cans to make a practical towel holder for a bathroom. The cans are attached to a piece of 16mm SupaWood by screws through the base of each tin. The tins themselves are decoupaged with gorgeous rose wrapping paper that coordinated perfectly with the colours of the towels. Paint the backing board to match and then trim with ribbon or braid.
BTW... You can also use paint tins for this project as well.
How about turning recycled cans into flower pots. Instead of the usual wrapped in this or covered in that, these recycled cans are given a coat of Rust-Oleum textured spray to make them look organic, which works well when planted up with a selection of succulents or cactii.
growcreative.blogspot.com
We may have looked at votive and candle holders before, but you don't realise how handy these are for outdoors on a garden table, and especially at night. You can use a hammer and nails to make the holes, or grab your Dremel MultiTool to make even more intricate designs.
We used medium-gauge wire and recycled aluminium cans to create our wall art. There are no rules here... you can be as creative as you like to make all kinds of shapes and flowers.
etsy.com
Winter is not far away and using tin or aluminium cans as birdhouses or bird feeders is one way to recycle and keep bird life flocking to your garden. This birdhouse is made from a coffee can that is topped off with a galvanised steel funnel. A quirky feature for the garden !
And last, but definitely not least...
Truly amazing... an entire wall is cladded with aluminium and tin cans in various metallic hues to create a beautiful, shimmering feature wall in this alcove with built in daybed.
claregraham.com
Clare Graham also uses a cladding technique to cover other pieces of furniture. While I'm not sure if I would want to take on an entire wall, I definitely like the idea of trying this on a small piece of furniture, or creating a piece of wall art for in the home or garden. If you use tin lids in combination with aluminium, over time an outdoor wall hanging would take on a dramatic texture with a rusted finish.
