I was inspired to make this by an old (probably at least 40 year old) aluminum cookie tin my grandmother-in-law has.Recycled Material: aluminum can
Other Material: none
Tools: long nose pliers, scissors and/or knife
How I did it: My aversion to patterns kicked in with this project and I just started cutting. First I made sure the can was rinsed out - nothing worse than a sticky soda can...well, there are worse things, but sticky cans are not any fun. I used a knife to saw the can as close to the top as I could. The first side you cut off is easy because it is still stiff, but once the top is cut off, the can gets flimsy and it is easier to just cut the rest with scissors. I used scissors to cut the aluminum straight down to the bottom the cut the bottom off as close to the edge as I could get. I then had a lovely sheet of aluminum to work with, but I trimmed the edges because they were kind of sharp. WARNING: in case you have not worked with cutting cans before, aluminum can get very sharp when cut and can splinter off and can be worse that wood splinters to get out of your fingers. I then started folding, cutting and tucking where the pieces seemed like they should go.
What I would do differently: Sometimes I can picture how I want something to turn out in my mind and it works out beautifully--this was not one of those times. I like the idea of this project much more than how it actually turned out so I will try it again somewhere along the line, except I will make and use a pattern. Also, I got too aggressive with the pliers when I was turning the edges down causing pieces of the aluminum to break off. While I am on the subject of aluminum and it's apparent daintiness, aluminum does not like hot glue. I have tried it on past projects and it just melts right through aluminum.
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