Thursday, November 18, 2010

Use for Juice Can Lids




This is a craft I have been thinking about for a long time, because  frozen juice can lids are a metal that could possibly be recycled. Since they are also magnetic, a magnet could be glued to the back, so that the art could be used as a refrigerator magnet or used on a magnetic bulletin board, but for now, I'm just going to show how to make a gift-tag which can double as an ornament.


Gift tags from the tin frozen juice can lids.


In the photo below, are some possible things you could use to make a pretty ornament from these lids: glue, glitter paint, glitter glue, short pieces of ribbons for the loops, scrapbook paper, and any kind of decal, sticker, or clipping. Look at your grocery containers and cardboard boxes or magazines and catalogs and see if there is any kind of art work that could be cut out and used for a craft like this. 
The lid on the right is painted white, with any kind of paint you have (except oil paint), or, you may prefer to leave them plain.  On scrapbook paper, trace the lid several times, depending on how many tags or ornaments you plan to make, and cut out the paper circles.

On the back of the lid, put a drop of thick white glue on the upper center part, and place your ribbon, crossing it slightly at the end. Press it down with a brush and then scribble some glue on the back of the paper circle, brushing it afterwards with the foam brush.  Place the paper circle over the ribbon and press it down to the lid,


securing all layers (lid, ribbon and paper)  with a clothespin to make it hold together. (Note: your clothespin does not have to be painted and glittered. This was something I did to make clips for my papers). Leave the clothespin on for awhile, and brush on a layer of glue to the front, so that you can add your decal or picture. If you are using a water slide decal, be sure to dab it dry with a terrycloth wash rag or towel after you apply it.

At this stage, you can choose different methods of finishing the tag: paint on a layer of Gems glitter paint, and let it dry, or

paint on a layer of white glue and sprinkle some crystal glitter on top of the lid.

On the paper backing, write a greeting, rubber stamp an image, or just write to and from.



It can be left as is, or you can go a step further and paint a line of glitter glue around the outer edges or the inner groove of the ornament.


Some people save these frozen juice lids hoping to find a use for them. Try gluing them on a long ribbon and using them for garlands to string on a mantel, or even making a wreath of them.  These lids also might be made into something to use outside on the porch or in the garden, for chimes, plant markers (maybe by adding a wood popsicle stick).


This is another one, made with a single layer of tissue gift-wrap from the dollar store, hung with cotton crochet string,

and on the left are some of those nice ornament hooks--it is about time, since the old type were so sharp and hard to use, and they are also now available at Dollar Tree. In the past few years, you could only get them in catalogs, and they were a bit pricey.

To keep the project cost-free, look at old greeting cards that can be cut, for your pictures. Sometimes for a dollar at Dollar Tree, you can get a package of cards with florals or scenes that would work well in these lids. I wanted to make it a craft that was non-seasonal so that it could be used any time of the year, and I believe that the rose decal lids would look nice on a  long horizontal ribbon strung across a window, wall, or a mantel, shelf or upper doorway. Try letters of the alphabet or form a special greeting or word on the lids.

Waterslide decal and sticker sources and other types of decals can be purchased here
http://onlinecraftsstore.com/transfers_decals.htm

http://www.cozy-cottage.com/Trash-to-Treasure-with-Decals-Shabby-to-Chic-Decor.html

http://www.soshabbypinkpaper.com/category_7/Shabby-Chic-Roses.htm

http://www.thedecalcottage.com/

12 comments:

Barbara Jean said...

another great idea girl!
Thanks for letting me know

These remind me of Joy and Peace ornaments I made last year, except I just cut circles out of cardboard, then or course music paper, black ribbon, and the words printed out.

Will show them soon.

blessings

barb

Anonymous said...

Aussie Crafters,

For your supplies (if you live in NSW) first try

http://www.reversegarbage.org.au/aboutus.html

for paints, glitters, fabrics, habberdashery, glues and just about anything else you can imagine. They are a fantastic organisation - a wonderful friend to the creative individual, home educator, church programme teacher, 'titus 2' instructor, etc. . Lady Lydia, This is exactly the type of thing they'd snaffle up in two seconds flat!! What a wonderful use of existing resources to create something lovely out of materials that so many throw out thoughtlessly.
Ladies, if using consumables from discount outlets, please thoroughly check ingredients and provinence before spending one cent of your money.

Keep crafting and bringing joy to those around you!!

Brilliant!!

Ginger said...

My children and I did this craft as a gift for grandparents for Christmas with pictures of the nativity and wreaths.

Red Hen said...

Great idea! I'm about to open a can now and I'm definitely saving the lid. Thanks for the tutorial.

Amy said...

Beautiful! What a great idea!

Unknown said...

We've done this craft idea when the kids were younger. They loved it. It also works well for VBS as a craft too.

Somehow, yours look much nicer than ours did!
L.Rose
www.singlehomeschoolingmommas.com

Lydia said...

I had been thinking about this kind of trash craft for several years and just never was happy with the outcome of what I made. I looked up juice can lid crafts on many sites and still did not find the look I was trying for. I think I am looking for something so elegant and simple that the fact that it is a lid is even more appealing, but I have not discovered it yet. A bit more tinkering with bits and pieces of things and I might have it. After completing this one small project, I think that the plainer it is, the better, and the same goes for those led-lite candles in the previous post. One thing I have not tried on the lids yet is fabrics or primitive style things.

rebekah said...

That is such a great idea! Thanks!

Mrs. B. said...

Fabulous idea! I have saved tons of those because it seemed so wasteful to through them away! Time to dig them out!

Anonymous said...

Someone might use this idea for their etsy store. The back could be made with luxury papers or just be a repeat of the front.

OPCCook said...

These are beautiful!!! What a great idea. They would really make beautiful gift tags too. Going to have to have a craft day. You are so smart! :-)
Blessings,
Mary Beth

Kathleen said...

I'm glad I found your blog! These are beautiful. I love how elegant they look, especially with the glitter. My daughter made a punched tin ornament from a juice lid last year for her hope chest and just learned how to decoupage this summer. So this is a perfect project for an ornament this year. Thanks for the directions! If you are still looking for ideas for primitives, you may like to see the post for her punched tin ornament at http://missabigailshopechest.blogspot.com/