Wednesday 26 August 2015

Recycling cans

I have been experimenting with aluminum cans (cider, on a hot day there is nothing better) and looking at tin can art.  I also wanted to use the cans to make something to frighten pigeons in the veg garden.  I used carrier bags tied to sticks that rattled in a high wind but these bleached out in a few weeks and quickly disintegrated, besides looking a bit tatty. I cut some tin cans open and tied them as curling sheets to string and on to bamboo poles. These rattled nicely in a light breeze and flashed in the sun but quickly cut the string and flew off.

So I am experimenting with a tin can spinning flower cut from half a cider can. Inspired by some of the pictures on Pinterest search. Here is my first try.
I found that I could cut the slightly rounded triangles for the petals using a pair of scissors, which was easier than a box cutter knife.  The petals are just bent out, wearing gloves, and a hole punched in the end for a screw to attach flower to a stick.  I think to have a freely spinning flower I think it needs a central tube over the screw - a drinking straw perhaps?
On the web I saw a few ideas for making these flowers into wall art - painting the petals with acrylics, or pressing a pattern in relief into the metal. I tried the latter with an old screwdriver on a spare bit  and that worked quite well.
Really good people make jewelry and intricate models using these cans - I can see that would take some skill. To get to that stage I will need a lot of practice, far more than our annual summer consumption of cider (24 at most).  I may have to turn into a Womble and start collecting cans along the road.  There are plenty abandoned between here and the village.

I had a look on You tube and saw some other ideas and techniques.  Some people are so clever!

An alternative use of squashed cans I saw this week. Have you ever heard of the chap doing FREE ART FRIDAYs in Southsea. Google it - a very talents artist using found squashed cans!


3 comments:

  1. They look great. What an excellent up-cycle of something that would be thrown away.

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  2. I can still throw them in the recycle bin when they get a bit tatty or I get bored with them!

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