Painted Aluminum Cans
This is one of my favorite crafts to make at Christmas. Here is what I do...
I take aluminum cans and clean them carefully. I say carefully because they have sharp edges and you don't want to get cut like I did! So, if the kids are helping be sure to closely supervise them so they don't get hurt. After the cans are dry, I spray them with one coat of primer. I used gray primer on these cans. After the primer has dried, add a couple coats of whatever color paint you would like. Remember to let the paint dry between coats. You may want to put a third coat of paint on depending how well the paint covered the can. After the last coat has dried you can then take a Christmas stencil (I got some at Wal-Mart) and stencil the design on. On the middle can I painted a plaid design by freehand. When painting the plaid design I used three different sized brushes to get the different widths. Also, you will want to paint one color at a time and let it dry before adding another color. You can also sponge paint designs on them. After the designs were dry, I took some sparkle glaze and painted it on. The sparkle glaze gives it a nice shimmer. After the sparkle glaze dried I sprayed it with a coat of clear acrylic varnish with a gloss finish. That gives them a very nice shine. The little cans like I made are nice for putting a votive candle in. I have made bigger ones in the past and put candy canes in them. These also make nice gifts that are very inexpensive. I also have to say that I am no artist and these turned out ok. I just wish my pictures turned out better! If you have any questions about this project, you can send me an e-mail at woozy1@geocities.com .
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