Tin Can Organiser – Week Three: Recycling in the Home

These days most of us have come to learn, the humble baked bean can is an easily recyclable commodity.  Alarmingly I have recently learned as a nation we Brits only manage to recycle around half of the 12.5 billion steel cans we use each year*. This fact got me thinking; are The M’s as a family contributing to the disappearance of the other half then? I hadn’t thought so since we’re all pretty hot on which bin is which. Upon further investigation I must confess I am the culprit in our household. Me, the one who is always bleating on that we must all do as much as we can to reverse this world crisis. Me that has been known to route through the rubbish bin tsk tsking as I fish out ‘misplaced’ items. It would appear my stash in the garage for future craft and gift ideas may be contributing to the missing billions. I am hoping however since I am reusing them at some point, I might still tick another box quite nicely. I could be on dodgy ground though. Join me today for the final part of my Recycling mini series, as I take a few of my steel can stockpile and turn them into an artists, crafters and gardeners delight. Today I am making a tin can organiser…

Some time ago I painted and stencilled an off-cut of scaffold board with a view to using it as a pot stand to protect the outdoor table from hot barbecue dishes. I forgot all about it and recently found it tossed into my off-cut wood pile waiting to be turned into something else I couldn’t live without. Since it became apparent that time had indeed arrived, I retrieved it and gathered together the remainder of equipment needed to make my tin can organiser. Naked tin cans, an old dog collar (all in good time) and an old sample tin of grey white paint which had not gone off. If you are unfamiliar with the off paint fiasco click here for a jolly good laugh.

The Spotty One’s old collar was fashioned into a handle (of course) which was trimmed and fastened to the scaffold board with rusty old nails.

As well as painting two naked tin cans, I also used four previously prettified cans. These had been covered in old wallpaper samples simply glued in place with craft glue and then coated with this for longevity and resilience. Sorry, no photos of this process, I did it a while back. You could also use paper napkins, tissue paper or even thin craft paper for a more decoupaged look.

Once the two painted cans were dry, I added a strip of burlap from the craft cupboard to keep with the rustic mood. Then Mr M glued and screwed all six tin cans in place and I waited (patiently) for everything to dry.

And here it is… my tin can organiser…

Mine is to be used for my ‘portable’ painting station. I tend to use the same brushes and equipment when I’m up-cycling and painting so it makes sense to spend less time searching different shelves in the garage for them and having a central storing station to grab and go.

As I excitedly filled my decorated tin can organiser, I pondered other ideas for more essential storage and transportation needs. As us crafty lot know, there is often a vast amount of equipment needed for a great many hobbies. Take gardening for instance…

Maybe you know an artist who would be glad of their brushes all to hand next time the mood took them…

Those who enjoy knitting might appreciate one too…

And just how grateful would a busy host be with a tin can organiser adding transportation and storage value to a summer barbecue…

And attempting to organise a student can never be a bad move can it?

I filled my mind with more ideas and adaptations for a tin can organiser than you could imagine. What if I cut a couple of the tin cans down in a range of varying sizes – filed them safely of course – and stored smaller items like pins and needles and tapes and threads and maybe string and mini pencils and labels and paper clips and on and on it went. I enjoyed a happy hour or so as my mind overflowed with a plethora of ideas. I mused how it would be to have the time to try all these ideas out. Musing was however as far as I got since I caught sight in my peripherals of a table full of dried summer flowers I still have yet to turn my imagination and hand to. Will there be wreaths or posies to make, baskets or bowls to fill? It’s a busy mind in there and that’s a post for another day.

So, what do you think… is there room in yours or a friend’s world for a tin can organiser? Perhaps you could personalise one for someone special. Maybe you could use their favourite colours, or possibly you could… and just like that, there I go again. I’ll leave you for now with your own wonderful imagination and ideas for how a tin can organiser might work in your world… until next week x

You’ll find more uses for tin cans here and here is Part One and Part Two of this recycling series in case you missed them

*information taken from https://www.businesswaste.co.uk/recycling-steel-cans/