Over at Fireflies & Jellybeans, they've got a cool contest going on.  It's called 'The Iron Crafter'.  Come on, just the name is enticing.  Check out their blog for all the details... and stay here for my tutorial and my entry.  Woohoo!  Alright here we go.  I turned a few (well, four), tin cans into what I call a 'tower lamp'.  It's just a tall lamp.  It's this:






Not too difficult (really, I don't do difficult...).  Here's what you need to make one:

• 4 tin cans, all the same width
• hammer & nail (or a drill with a small drill bit)
• wide tape- I used painter's tape because I had it on hand
• scrapbook paper
• Mod Podge & brush
• raffia
• string of lights (I used a short strand of white Christmas lights)
• scissors
• can opener
• sand paper
• iron & ironing board
• small towel

Alright, step one: Take your cans, wash them out, take off the labels, fill them with water (not all the way to the top so the water has room to expand) and stick them in the freezer for a while.  How long?  Ummm... until they're.. frozen.  I'm not good at keeping track of how long things take, which is why I don't do recipes...


There's a chance that this can happen to your cans... too much water, perhaps?  Old can?  I'm betting on too much water.


That's OK, I can work with that.  No prob.  So the first thing you'll need to do is make a hold for the plug on the string of lights to fit through so you can plug it in.  I went at it with my hammer and nail and hammered in an outline of the opening.


Of course I didn't make the opening large enough, but didn't realize until later.  Oops.  Easy fix, though, apparently scissors from the dollar store can cut through a tin can.  Good to know. So I hammered the outline until I could rip the middle of it out.  *Just a note, this isn't the best way to do it.  A better way would be to use a drill, or even to make some pilot holes and then cut with scissors or tin snips.  I figured I would show you the way I did it so that you can come up with a better way to do it.  Oh, and make sure your plug can fit through the hole.  That helps.

Alright, so you've got your opening.  Now you can designate this as the back of your can lamp.

Now it's time to punch some holes in these cans.  If you've done the tin can lanterns before, this is the same approach.  For the first three cans I used a hammer and nail, and then the hubby came in and asked, "Why don't you use my drill?". Erg.  Duh.  The drill was much easier and faster.  The only downfall was that I had to sand down the outside of the can because the drill bit pulled some tin up and made the outside prickly.  Other than that, it was great.  I prefer the drill to the hammer for this.  Just make sure, whichever you choose to use, that the can is nice and secure and not rolling all over, and to be careful, and not hurt yourself!

OK, once you've got your cans all holed-up, run them under some hot water and get the ice out.  Then use your can opener and cut the bottoms off of three of the cans.  Here's where we're at:


Now, making sure the can with the bottom is on the bottom, tape the cans together, end to end, and using a nail, punch through any holes that the tape has covered.


Here comes the fun part: scrapbook paper.  I've said before, I don't scrapbook, but I LOVE scrapbooking supplies!  Not that I don't like scrapbooking, I just don't like the pages I come up with if I attempt it.  Anywho, pick out your scrapbook paper to cover the cans.  I chose two coordinating papers:



Take your pretty paper, and crumple them into two balls.


Really scrunch them up. Flatten them and scrunch them a different way.  Just try not to rip the paper too much.  Once you're done taking out your aggression on the paper, smooth them out and take your sand paper to them and lightly rub it all over, just to remove the colors from the creases.


After their sanding, take them over to the iron, place a small towel on top, and iron them flat.  I don't remember the setting I used to iron the paper... but I do remember steam.  So don't be afraid of the heat being too high.  Just keep the iron moving around... and keep it on the towel.

Once it's all flattened, take one sheet and fold it in half, and cut along the fold.  Take one half and Mod Podge it to the bottom of the can, making sure to really press the paper down to get any bubbles out, and making sure that the edge of the paper is on the backside of the can.


Trim the paper at the back so that it slightly overlaps the other edge of paper, and stick it down.  Repeat for the paper at the top, and then cut the second paper to fill the gap between them.  When they are all good and glued down, slather a coat of Mod Podge on and let it dry for a while.


Once the podge is at least at the 'tacky' stage, you're going to need to poke through the paper where your nail holes are.  To make it really easy on yourself, stick part of the string of lights into the cans so the holes light up, take your nail, and poke away.  I don't recommend doing this when the glue is still too wet, just so that the paper won't tear.  Oh, and don't forget the big hole near the bottom for the plug!  I poked a hole into the center of it, and then pressed the paper over the sharp edges I created earlier.  The paper was still just tacky enough to stick to the inside of the can.


Now you can let the Mod Podge dry completely.  Then you can take you string of lights and put the plug in first, and pull it through the hole near the bottom.  Now you can shove the rest of the strand into the cans.  I used a ruler to make sure the lights were pretty even from top to bottom.

Last night as I was cleaning my bathroom (bleh) one of these rings rolled out from the sink cabinet.

 A few months ago I had 12 of these under my sink, but threw them away... and apparently forgot one.  Now I'm wishing I kept them!  I found these online at the Home Depot for $2.96 for 12, but I'm almost certain you can get them at a dollar store.

So I started thinking about this lonely little ring, and realized it looked a lot like a lucite bracelet, and would look pretty cool with some sort of pattern.  However, this was definitely not fitting over my hand onto my wrist. A little modification was in order.  Here's what you do:

Put some water in a pot to boil.  Once it's boiling, throw the ring in and let it sit in there for a few minutes.  Take it out with some tongs and it looks like this:


It looks the same, it's just much more flexible.  First thing to do is cut those ends off.  Grab a sharp knife and carefully cut 'em off.  After you cut one side it might make it easier to throw it back in the boiling water to soften again, and then cut the other end off.


The ends might be a little sharp around the edges (mine were) so I took some fine-grit sandpaper and lightly rubbed the edges.  Then throw it back in the water for just a little bit, maybe 30 seconds, take it out with the tongs, and bend it so it's the right size for your wrist.  Quickly now, it hardens back up pretty fast! 


Run it under some cold water, and it's ready for some color!  You could probably use some acrylic paint and make your own pattern, but I chose to use scrapbook paper.  Fabric would be awesome, too!
Measure the width of the inside of the bracelet, mine was about 5/16", and cut a strip of paper that is that wide and long enough to wrap around the inside of the ring... plus some.


Grab your trusty Mod Podge, and with a small brush, brush a coat onto the inside of the ring and stick the paper on, print side down.


Then trim off the excess paper, and cover the paper with another coat of Mod Podge.  Make sure the sides of the paper are glued down well, and wipe off any podge that gets on the top or sides of the bracelet.


Let it dry, and it's done!  Super fast and super easy and super inexpensive!















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