Sunday, August 4, 2013

Eclectic Ellapu Challenge #41 - Anything For A Teacher

Hello Crafters!

It's time for another challenge from the purples over at Eclectic Ellapu and the challenge theme was chosen by ... Moi. Yep, yours truly.

School will start this month for many of us and although I no longer have children in elementary (my baby is starting Jr. High School this year, sniff ... sniff) I thought we would have a school theme for those of you who just might be looking for some cute projects for teachers.

I am in an upcycle mood lately so I have turned a small pop-top single serve fruit can into a treat holder. Now, I can't take credit for this wonderful idea as it is one I saw several years ago. I have only done this once before and it had more of a Fall theme so I am in new territory here with the school theme. Here's a picture of the can:

The trick with this little puppy is to use a special can opener (purchased at Wal-Mart) that will cut tops/bottoms of cans and leaves no sharp edges. A bit on the expensive side but worth it once you get used to using it. So, as you can see I left the top in place and cut off the bottom of the can, ate the fruit (yummy!), washed & dried the can then let it sit for a day or two just to make sure it was good and dry. Obviously the label was peeled off. No need to worry about the stickem that the paper label was glued on with, that will be covered.

Next you want to fill the can with wrapped treats and hot glue the bottom back on. You could use a liquid glue but I didn't want to sit and hold it while it dried. Yeah, I'm an impatient crafter. We all have our faults. Makes me wonder how I will ever get through an art journal which I desperately want to do. But, that's a story for another time.

So I wrapped the designer paper I wanted to use around the can and made a mark where I would trim it down. No measuring here, I'm impatient remember? Anyway, I used Scor-Tape to attach the paper to the can and used a little liquid qlue at the top and bottom if there were any gaps, which there were. Also had to snip the paper a bit at the top to go around the curved surface gracefully.

I added a 1/8" ribbon at the top and bottom of the can to hide the metal rims. Just didn't like them showing. You could leave them uncovered depending on the look you are going for.

At the pop-top on top of the can I very carefully (so as not to pop the top) added ribbons and tied (only once) to decorate and add a little fru-fru. Lastly I added a string to the pop-top which I attached some layered stars and hand printed a sentiment on the top one.This project was made from scraps from my new "scrap box". So, what do you think? Pretty quick to make (except for the drying time after washing the can). To my surprise these pop-top type cans actually come in different small sizes but of course, you could use a soup can if you wanted too. I just thought this size was too cute. Here's a couple more pictures.
Don't fill too full or glue will stick to the candy. Wasted chocolate would be a shame.
Finished
Wouldn't this look cute holding pencils or something on a teacher's desk when the treats are gone?

Ok, enough about my project. Go over and check out the rest of the Eclectic Ellapu Design Team projects. We have a lot of inspiration going on over there. And why not make a project of your own and join in the challenge? We would love to have you.

Happy Crafting!

1 comment:

  1. Beautifully done girl....love the idea and the color you have used....

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