Get out your glue gun - it's time for a craft!

I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of posting about food. Don't get me wrong, I love a fabulous new recipe. But I also love a good craft project. So here goes.

I've recently started saving nearly every kind of container - formula cans, coffee cans, cereal puff containers, baby food jars/tubs, etc. Some of them I save because they can be re-purposed, but others I save just because the Munchkin likes to play with them. All of you moms out there know that an empty water jug or formula can is way more entertaining to a 10 month old than an expensive toy!

So this evening, instead of sitting around and watching episodes of My Fair Wedding on Netflix, I decided to sit down and turn some of these containers (that are slowly taking over my store room) into something fabulous. Well, I crafted while I watched My Fair Wedding. :)

I haven't decided for sure where I want to use these, but I'm in the process of redecorating our bathroom, so I went with an overall color scheme that would work for what I have in mind.

DIY Crafty Canisters 

(If you can think up a more concise, clever name, please share!)

Supplies:

Empty containers (labels removed, wiped clean)

1 sheet of graph paper

Scissors

Pen/pencil

Fabric (or scrapbook paper, your choice)

Ribbon (or other embellishments)

Glue gun & glue sticks

Clear nail polish

1. Remove the labels from your containers and wipe them clean with a damp cloth.

 

2. Use the graph paper to make a template to cover the container. Make sure to make the top and bottom exact so it hits right on the top and bottom of the container. Allow some overhang on the ends to lap edges over each other.

3. Lay your template over your fabric (or scrapbook paper), and cut it out. 

4. Heat up your glue gun!

5. Glue the fabric (or paper) onto the container! Do a little bit at a time, since hot glue dries fast. Make sure to keep fabric smooth to ensure a fabulous finished product. When you get to the end of the piece, overlap the edges to completely cover the container. If desired, gently brush some clear nail polish over the fabric edge to prevent excess fraying. 

6. Measure and cut ribbons, and glue as desired on you container. You could also embellish with a piece of twine (tied in a bow).

Voila! 

*****UPDATE*****

So I ended up using my crafty canisters in the bathroom. They all sit nice and pretty atop our over-the-toilet cabinet. The tiny one holds cotton swabs, the middle one holds cotton pads, and the largest one holds... other stuff. :)

If any of you have been to our house, you'll know that the bathroom is TEENY tiny. The ceiling is low, the window is about 10-inches square, and the tub is peach-colored. And not a pretty peach. More like, "thank goodness this tub is brown because our hard water makes nasty rust-stains" peach.

When I started playing around with decorating the bathroom and asked the Hubby if I could buy us a new shower curtain, he said "Anything you can do to make it prettier!" So I tried. Here are the results...

This is the cabinet over the toilet. I added scrapbook paper to the clear panes so that you can't see the stuff inside. It makes it look more uniform and much cleaner.

Close-up of the canisters holding their goodies.

Teeny tiny window. I've tried to disguise it with a scarf (that my sister bought in France!) and some candles. It sort of works...

And here is our extra "storage" in the bathroom. I've wanted to use the whole scrapbook-paper-on-plastic-drawers for a while, but didn't get around to it until recently. I went the quick route and just taped the paper onto the drawer from the inside. Not the most durable method, but it's prettier than it was, and I can change it later on.