Recycled into art: cat food cans & more!
We look forward to filling
this page with treasures!
Used as an art medium, cat food cans - and other recycled products - offer endless possibilities...
Quick true story... my art partner saw me examining my car (though 24 years old, the body's still in good shape). "Oh, no!", she yelled out with a laugh, reading my mind EXACTLY -"you're thinking of pimping it out with cat food cans!"
Perhaps my car notion was a bit extreme (lol), but we do hope this page will help impress the importance of RECYCLING and the many ways it can be done; some of them a great deal of FUN! ... and like the "Ugly Wood" (from our Stories Along the Way page), we hope to share the beautiful possibilities we've been blessed to discover.
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Using the same metal-working techniques (as we do with cat food & soda cans),
a customized pickguard was created for this electric guitar!
a customized pickguard was created for this electric guitar!
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"Old Dominion Peanut Company coaster"
"Old Dominion Peanut Company coaster"
- for a fun, over-sized coaster!
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How about something easier? Moving from art to the
realm of crafts, even kids may enjoy making these!...
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How about something easier? Moving from art to the
realm of crafts, even kids may enjoy making these!...
Pringles coasters & ornaments 1. Save the plastic lid from a Pringles can. 2. Trace lid onto photo or quote to put inside - cut out slightly INSIDE the traced line. Place photo in lid. 3. Trace the lid 2 more times on a sheet of flat craft foam and cut out. 4. Press 1 foam circle flat against the photo then brush rubber cement over the inside lid edges and foam back. 5. Place the 2nd foam circle inside the lid and press into shape. Weight coaster down by putting a small heavy object (or water-filled glass ) on top of the foam side until dry. |
To use as a hanging ornament, simply use a push tack to make a hole in the edge of the lid and insert a wire hook (or ribbon, string, etc).
For a DOUBLE-sided ornament, you can cut cardboard circles instead of foam (for the inside) - more than 2 circles may be needed to make sure both are filled to the edge of the lid. Glue both photo lids together, inserting the ends of a loop of thin ribbon between them for the hanger. Glue a strip of 1/4 inch wide ribbon around the edge of the ornament to strengthen the joint AND give it a more decorative appearance.
For a DOUBLE-sided ornament, you can cut cardboard circles instead of foam (for the inside) - more than 2 circles may be needed to make sure both are filled to the edge of the lid. Glue both photo lids together, inserting the ends of a loop of thin ribbon between them for the hanger. Glue a strip of 1/4 inch wide ribbon around the edge of the ornament to strengthen the joint AND give it a more decorative appearance.
the ears were cut from a plastic water bottle & the legs are small caps from hairspray bottles
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To find a recycling center near you, visit
Keep America Beautiful
and type in your zip code.
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To find a recycling center near you, visit
Keep America Beautiful
and type in your zip code.
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recycled German candy tin, suede-covered, with cross
made from the bottom of a cat food can
made from the bottom of a cat food can
A Fancy Feast keychain...
Thank you, Bill, for saving us those beautiful Fancy Feast cans - and also for the recycled containers!
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for Pat's cat collection - cat food can art set in red oak
Friskies wall plaque...
small wall plaque made from the bottom of a Friskies cat food can, mounted in a wooden drink coaster
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Recycling fun!: "Pop Your Top!" - our 2010 "Christmas card"
("Funny Jingle Bells" played by YoungMiller on a guitar synthesizer)
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Recycling fun!: "Pop Your Top!" - our 2010 "Christmas card"
("Funny Jingle Bells" played by YoungMiller on a guitar synthesizer)
Yep! - art made from empty soda cans!... Give it a try!
(if it doesn't work out, you can STILL recycle the cans!)
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We heard from someone who saw our "Pop Your Top" video -
and DID try it!...
(if it doesn't work out, you can STILL recycle the cans!)
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We heard from someone who saw our "Pop Your Top" video -
and DID try it!...
Missy McPheeters, who lives at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, sent us an email with photos. What wonderful ideas! - and beautiful work! She and her friend Christen made art from soda cans to put in the tops of Mason jars filled with cookie ingredients for Christmas presents! - What a great idea! They'd make fantastic gifts for ANY occasion! Missy also worked & sculpted the delightful butterfly pictured below from aluminum cans! |
Thank you for sharing, Missy! (now WE want to try some Mason jar art, too!)
We call it "soda can silver" & the art created from aluminum cans NOW has its own page on
the website! Below are just a few examples of what we've been doing with it!
Friskies "Conchos"
Although many people initially think we put the metal into a "press" to create art from cat
food cans, the actual technique is much more difficult: each piece is worked by hand
(known as repousee & chasing) with homemade tools; working the designs over & over...
It is literally persistance and metal fatigue which bring about the end results!
cat food can conchos for a belt / reversible, the other side will have
Native American & Southwest style conchos
Native American & Southwest style conchos
Oops! - something happened to some of the conchos!... (Oct 2010)
On the "back burner", the belt doesn't show signs of being completed any time soon - HOWEVER - four of the above southwestern conchos ended up in another piece.......
On the "back burner", the belt doesn't show signs of being completed any time soon - HOWEVER - four of the above southwestern conchos ended up in another piece.......
This step stool (short table / bench) was made from recycled materials: the top from old shipping palets (which are normally thrown away) and the legs from scrap lumber. It measures approximately 10" high, 18.75" in length and 11 5/8" wide and is embellished with leather fringe. Each side is decorated with a "faux silver" concho which we hand-tool from cat food cans - and this is the only metal to be found on the piece (no nails or screws)... it is ENTIRELY pegged together (Amish style).
August 6,2011 - "Concho Belt Update" - we decided to forego plans for the reversible concho belt (at least for now) and to use the above "conchos" in jewelry instead; we had people asking if cat food can jewelry would be available again. The extensive amount of wood & metal work involved with the planned belt would have made it a very expensive piece (if we could've parted with it once done! lol)
Funny thing, though! - we received an inquiry about the belt before this update could be made - and as a result, it spurred us to think about cat food can art from a different angle...
We are going to experiment to see if we can modify the cans so they become a "stand alone" material (not embedded in wood).
In other words, to see if the cat food cans can be made into traditional style conchos.
(This could be a LOT of fun!)
In the meantime, cat food cat jewelry is being made again!...
Funny thing, though! - we received an inquiry about the belt before this update could be made - and as a result, it spurred us to think about cat food can art from a different angle...
We are going to experiment to see if we can modify the cans so they become a "stand alone" material (not embedded in wood).
In other words, to see if the cat food cans can be made into traditional style conchos.
(This could be a LOT of fun!)
In the meantime, cat food cat jewelry is being made again!...
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(Is it just us? Or...) the brown beads appear like wooden flowers when worn with the bird showing
- BUT! - when viewing the feline side, those same beads look more like nuggets of dry cat food!
- BUT! - when viewing the feline side, those same beads look more like nuggets of dry cat food!
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There are MANY treasures to "repurpose" from the products you use!
Though the metal work (above) may be too much for most people, the discs can easily be made into photo ornaments or magnets...
1. trace the disc on a photo 2. "laminate" the picture (print side only) by carefully covering the area to be cut out with wide clear tape or contact paper. 3. cut out photo just INSIDE trace line 4. using a glue stick, cover the entire back of the photo and then press & flatten photo into steel disc. |
At this point, you can simply glue a magnet on the back for refridgerator decor (lol) OR glue / tape a loop of thin ribbon on the back for a hanger.
You can also make a great DOUBLE-sided ornament by gluing 2 metal photo discs together with the ends of a loop of thin ribbon tucked in-between them (for hanging).
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We have to laugh at ourselves!... the thought struck us that THESE discs could also be made
into a concho belt; a one-of-a-kind PHOTO concho belt!
Imagine! - it'd be like wearing a small photo album, especially if the conchos were double-sided!
The shape of the steel discs make them easier to convert into conchos (compared to other products),
but the hard part (for us at least!) would be collecting enough to make a belt out of them!
hmmm... we may have to put a request out to friends!
Another experiment is on the drawing board:
we think we know how the photo discs could also be made more water-resistant...
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Look at the products you use carefully...
you may be throwing out some GOOD stuff!!! :)
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but the hard part (for us at least!) would be collecting enough to make a belt out of them!
hmmm... we may have to put a request out to friends!
Another experiment is on the drawing board:
we think we know how the photo discs could also be made more water-resistant...
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Look at the products you use carefully...
you may be throwing out some GOOD stuff!!! :)
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