Soda Can deco

A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to do something with soda cans (besides the obvious choice of throwing them away). After Thanksgiving (and the plethora of cans it provided), I decided that I wanted to attempt to make some stars. It has taken a bit of trial and error and a lot of work, but they turned out so well, (unlike the following pictures) I think its' all been worth it.

So, here it is. Another tutorial for a craft project using items you probably have sitting around your house.

To begin with, you will need:

a variety of soda cans

(tip- off brand soda cans are thinner and easier to work with. Fresca cans are pretty soft, too)

an exacto knife

sturdy scissors

stencil(s) of your choice

embossing tool or anything with a pointy but dull tip such as a mechanical pencil or medium tip ball point pen

Cardboard or self-healing mat to protect your work surface

gloves if you are concerned about cutting yourself

Step One:

Using an exacto knife, cut the top off of your can. Step Two:
Using your scissors, cut down the middle of your can to the bottom.

Step Three:

Cut the bottom off of your can. You may have to start with the exacto knife, but you should be able to finish this step with your scissors. Careful, this is the point where you could cut yourself I haven't cut myself yet, but while I was working on this tutorial, I did have a shard break off and literally fly into my finger. Check out the pretty jagged piece on the bottom of the can.

Step Four:

Flatten the can on your work surface. You can actually smooth it down and flatten it, or you can just hold it flat against your work surface. The results are the same. Lay your stencil on top of the can and with a very slow and steady hand, trace the pattern onto the can with your embossing tool or pencil. If you are using a pen, be sure to trace on the side that you plan on being on the underneath.

Step Five:

Using scissors, cut out star. You may wish to cut the sharp tips off of the star. They are lethal.

Step Six:

Placing wrong side up, very carefully draw lines down the arms of your star to the center. You may want to use a ruler as a guide. When you turn the star over, this is what it should look like:

Step Seven:

Very, very carefully bend the star on the middle lines.

And you're done! If you would like to make a hole for hanging, I used the tip of my exacto knife and just sort of drilled into the tip of the star.

The following is a wreath that I made a few weeks ago. I didn't love it, but I do love the holly leaves that I cut out of a Fresca can for color.

I don't know if you heard about the fiasco with the holiday Coke cans looking like Diet Coke when they weren't. My brother-in-law had quite a few of these cans left over after Thanksgiving. I love the Coke Bears and thought that they would make such a great addition to my stars. What do you think of my Coca-Cola keepsake ornament?

I also saw a tutorial where a girl used decorative paper punches to cut shapes out of soda cans. I had to try it.

I absolutely love the results, but really don't want to destroy the blades on my good punches. What do you think? What will you make with your soda cans?