Do you love recycling trash into treasures as much as we do!?
Art doesn’t have to be expensive. Using things you might normally throw away as art supplies is one way to create in an inexpensive way! Soup cans are one of our favorite recycling materials to repurpose into a fun craft. It is sturdy and strong and be a great base for something else.
Today, we are excited to show you how you can turn those cans into marbleized storage canisters.
The first step is to collect your soup cans. We have gotten in the habit of just saving all our soup cans, so when a project idea arises, we are ready with cans on hand. I take the paper wrapper off our soup cans and run them through the dishwasher with our dishes to get clean. Once you have your dry cans, you are ready to create! We spray painted our cans white to have a nice matte base coat for this project. 
While the tin cans were drying, we collected our spray paint cans and filled a bucket with water. For each can, we choose two different spray paint colors. We added one color at a time.
All you have to do is spray the water with your spray paint color. The spray paint sits on top of the water. You then lay the can on top of the water and the paint will adhere to the can like a sticker might grab onto your hand. After one color was added, we simply looked at the can, maybe rotated it a little to figure out what side needed some more color, and did this step again with the second color of paint.
The can comes out of the water looked marbleized and super fun! After you get the hang of it, you can play with how much spray paint you spray on top of the water to create a more thick or less thick look on your can. We had so much fun doing all four of our cans that we prepped!
After the cans were dry, we used ours to hold art supplies. You could do the same or turn it into something else! A wind chime, flower pot, vase, or candle holder are fun ways to use your new canister too. 
You can personalize this craft using colors that fit your taste or the size can that fits your need best.
Sometimes it is easier to understand the steps to a project to see it actually happen. To see this craft in video form, you can watch the process on our YouTube channel here.
We love how quick, colorful, process art base, and inexpensive this paint technique can be! We had so much fun doing it to the tin cans that we bought some inexpensive raw wood candle sicks to paint this way too!
How fun are those!? We think they look like they belong on shelves in World Market or Anthropologie. We found some white candle sticks that make the colors pop even more, and we are going to use them as Christmas presents for family this year!
What do you think!? Will you try this paint technique? Do you like making Christmas gifts too!? We’d love to hear from you! Find us on social media by tagging us with your pictures #spoonfulofimagination
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Did you see our big news!?
They did actually have a lot of fun. We all did.
Caleb’s project was looking so perfect and then we came back in from playing in the snow and disaster struck! I made a huge mess and am just thankful the cameras weren’t rolling when this happened, or Matt would shown you for sure!
If you’ve followed us for a while, you know that we encourage that the creating process is the art and not the final product. This helps to break down fears and boundaries when creating and encourage a more “go for it” spirit. This mindset will also help when your project gets messed up or isn’t looking the way you wanted it too.
Not only was I off the hook for ruining his painting, but I was so proud of how he processed through a mistake and turned it into something he loves. He now has it hanging next to his bed! Pretty cool!
Do you have any emoji fans in your family?
The first step is to turn one plate over on top of another and staple around the edges to attach the plates to one another. 
After you have a face form, I used a little hot glue to attach my craft stick inside the plates. There was enough room between the stapled areas to stick a glob of glue on one of the plates, place a craft stick on top, and hold the sides of the plate together until the glue holds and hardens. 
After you have attached your stick, your emoji is ready to be created. This is where you can use whatever you have on hand! Markers, crayons, colored pencils, and even construction paper would be great tools to use to create your classic emoji face.
It was so fun to see the artists laugh at one another’s creation as they guessed which face they were making. These were quickly used as puppets or props as kids talked and acted out little skits with them. It’s a magical moment to watch a creation turn into inspiration for more fun!
This is such a simple project that you can personalize however you want! Maybe you want to paint your face-that’s great too!
Do you have spring fever?
What’s cheap? Paper can be the most inexpensive way to decorate. I saw these butterflies in the school section of my local Dollar Tree. I snatched up several bags as soon as I saw them. An idea clicked, and luckily they had the butterfly net in stock too for my idea.
For every one of my butterflies, it took two pieces of paper. I simply folded one butterfly in half, placed a little hot glue on another butterfly down it’s center, and then pressed the folded butterfly into the glue on the fold line. Check out these pictures to see what I mean.
That was it! I just used a little tape to put the butterflies in place on my wall.
Are you ready for spring too!? Maybe you live more in the south and it’s already spring where you live. Have you pulled out spring decor??
These paper butterflies were so cheap. The project could even be cheaper if you hand cut butterflies or have a die cut machine of your own. For me, I don’t have a machine and 32 butterflies for a $1 was so worth it.