Ideas for Aluminum Cans
Before you throw out your aluminum cans, you can try several craft ideas to recycle them. These types of cans are strong enough to make long-lasting, decorative crafts. With just a few other materials, you can create decorative and useful items to display around your home or to give as gifts.
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Ornaments
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Carefully remove the top and bottom of an aluminum can with a strong pair of scissors or a knife. Cut a slit down the side of the can so you can stretch the aluminum into a sheet. Find some leaves in the yard or use a fake leaf and trace the outline of it onto the aluminum. Cut out the shape. Punch a hole through the top part of the aluminum leaf with a hole punch. String a piece of ribbon or yarn through the hole and tie the loose ends together.
Creative Art
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Smash an aluminum can long ways with your feet or roll it over with a rolling pin. Look at the object and see if the outline of the can resembles anything that you can think of, such as a fish, bird or football, but be creative and use your imagination. When you have decided what shape your aluminum object looks like, paint the piece of crushed aluminum to look more like the object. This will become a conversation piece that expresses your creativity and artistic ability.
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Aluminum Lamb
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Cut off of the top of an aluminum can with a pair of scissors or with a can opener. Sand the rough edges down with a sheet of sandpaper or emery board. Paint your can with white craft paint. Glue cotton balls around the circumference of the can. Cut out a nose, paws and ears from a sheet of black felt and glue them to the body of the can appropriately. Glue a set of googly eyes above the nose. Tie a small, colorful piece of ribbon into a bow and glue it below the lamb's nose.
Child's Mobile
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Find a wire clothes hanger and tie several pieces of yarn from different areas of the wire. Cut the bottoms and tops from several empty aluminum cans, then cut a slit down the sides of each and lay the aluminum sheet flat. Trace different shapes onto the aluminum: animal shapes, sports shapes, dolls or whatever your child would like. Paint each piece for a more colorful mobile. File the edges of the objects with sandpaper to avoid rough edges. With a hole punch, punch a hole in the top of each object. Secure each object to the other end of each piece of yarn and tie into a knot. Hang your mobile well out of the child's reach in case any edges are still sharp.
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References
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