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    Home » Crafts » How To Upcycle Aluminum Cans Into Vases

    How To Upcycle Aluminum Cans Into Vases

    Modified: May 20, 2023 by Kathy Owen
    This post may contain affiliate links

    Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Twitter <use href="#<svg width="1em" height="1em" viewBox="0 0 32 32" class="scriptlesssocialsharing__icon flipboard" fill="currentcolor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" role="img"> <title>flipboard</title> <path d="M24.997 13.001h-5.998v5.998h-5.998v5.998h-5.998v-17.995h17.995zM1.004 1.004v29.991h29.991v-29.991z"></path> </svg>" xlink:href="# flipboard "> Share on Flip it

    Upcycle aluminum cans like soda cans, and beer cans into quirky vases using spray paint.

    Today the Thrift Store Team is upcycling and recycling all kinds of plastic containers, coffee cans, wine bottles, and more to celebrate Earth Day. The projects are amazing. My upcycled can vases are a knock-off of popular West Elm vases, which are very pricy.

    aluminum cans to upcycle into vases

    I started my upcycle project with these beer cans but soda cans or any aluminum cans will work just fine.

    west elm soda can vases

    My inspiration for this project is the Pretti.Cool Soda Can Vases from West Elm. They are made out of concrete, and the cost is $45 per vase for a total of $225 for all five vases. Seems a bit steep to me, even for concrete. I made my five vases for less than $25. After reading my project tutorial, let me know how you feel about mine vs theirs'. 

    How to upcycle aluminum cans into vases

    I think mine turned out great, better than expected! Get ready for the tutorial. Also, the Thrift Store Team project links are at the bottom of the post.

    fill aluminum cans with sand to make vases

    The aluminum cans are a whole lot lighter than concrete, so I filled my cans with sand, only about halfway full. The weight of the sand should keep the cans from tipping over and since the cans are only half full, the sand shouldn't spill out if they do tip over.

    crsuh aluminum cans to make DIY vases

    After I filled the cans with sand, I crushed them with my hand. They crush easily and you can make various crimped and crumpled shapes just by squeezing different areas of the can. I didn't do anything special just tried to make each can look a bit different from the others.

    how to upcycle beer cans into vases

    These are the three cans I started painting. After I painted them, I pulled more cans out of my recycle bin and spray paint colors from my stash and decided to go with an all-out copycat project of the West Elm Vases.

    Rustoleum Spray Paint for DIY projects

    I ordered the Rustoleum Chalked Charcoal and the Rustoleum Cinnamon in anticipation of this project. I had the other paints on my shelf already.

    Rustoleum Spray Paint Color For West Elm Knock Off Vases

    The individual colors in order are; Cinnamon, Chalked Charcoal, Wildflower Blue, Tuscan Sun, and my all-time favorite off-white spray paint Heirloom Satin. All of the spray paint I used for this project is Rust-Oleum brand.

    In order to keep the spray paint from running, I applied several light coats to the cans letting the coats dry in between applications. It did take a bit of paint to cover the bold writing on the cans.

    FolkArt acrylic paints for DIY vases project

    Once I had the aluminum cans spray painted and dried, I pulled out several colors of acrylic paint. I selected a really light yellow, a pale gray, maroon, navy, black, tan, and white.

    use various brushes to make speckles on painted aluminum can vases

    I've used a baby bottle brush to add specks of paint to furniture before, so I started working with the bottle brush on the cans. I poured the acrylic paint colors onto a paper plate and dipped the brush tips into the paint. Then I wiped some of the paint from the bristles using a paper towel.

    use a baby bottle brush to make dots or speckles on painted cans or other painted surfaces

    Next, I touched the brush to the painted can until there was no more paint coming off of the brush, then I repeated the process, dipping the brush in the paint, wiping some off, then applying the paint to the can using the brush.

    how to make knock off West Elm soda can vases on a budget

    I went through three different brushes, including a vegetable cleaning brush and a wire brush, because the bottle brush was not working exactly like I wanted. But, for putting paint speckles on the cans, the bottle brush seemed to do the best job.

    spray paint soda cans and use them as vases

    And that is all there was to this project. Seriously, it was not time-consuming and not a difficult project at all.

    how to spray paint aluminum cans to make cute vases

    The total project time was probably 3 hours from start to finish. I was working on other projects while the cans were drying. 

    spray painted aluminum cans (2)

    I wasn't trying to match the West Elm Soda Can paint colors exactly, just the general color and paint idea.

    how to make vases using upcycled aluminum cans

    The spray painted and paint speckled can vases make me smile.

    how to make soda can vases or beer can vases using spray paint

    It's hard to figure out the cost of my can vases because the cans do not need a whole can of spray paint for coverage, and I used very little acrylic paint for the speckles on the cans. 

    save $200 on these West Elm vases by making your own

    All 5 of the West Elm vases would cost $225.00 plus tax and shipping costs. I'm going to say that all 5 of my DIY Upcycled Aluminum Can Vases cost $25 to make—pretty good savings.

    pin collage recycled jewelry

    If you liked this upcycled project, look at my upcycled jewelry projects... 13 Recycled Jewelry Projects

    Please leave me a note if you have time before you take off on the tour. Tour the other recycle/upcycle projects in honor of Earth Day by clicking the text links below the "before" makeovers photo collage. 

    how to upcycle coffee cans, soda cans, beer cans, and wine bottles

     

    Thrift Store Decor Tour, Recycled and Upcycled Projects....
    DIY Upcycle Ideas from Your Recycle Bin - My Repurposed Life
    How To Upcycle Aluminum Cans Into Vases - Petticoat Junktion (you are here)
    Upcycling a Coffee Canister with Cork Fabric - Sadie Seasongoods
    DIY Wine Bottle Tiki Torch - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
    Recycling Bin Propagation Station - Organized Clutter
    Recycle Bin Craft - Shop At Blu

    West Elm Pretti.Cool Soda Can Vases DIY Knockoff project by Petticoat Junktion
    As always, thanks for being here, Kathy

    Kathy Owen
    Website

    Author: Kathy Owen (Petticoat Junktion)
    Kathy is the founder of PetticoatJunktion.com, a home décor blog focused on repurposing and upcycling furniture, old hardware, rusty stuff, and thrifty finds into unique home décor. Kathy’s projects have been featured on the Home Depot Blog, Plaid Crafts, Behr Designer Series, and in numerous magazines. Read more about Kathy here.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Donna via Funky Junk Interiors

      April 27, 2023 at 1:12 pm

      Well aren't these soda can vases the cutest! Love how you can so easily customized as desired as well. Super sweet, Kathy!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 28, 2023 at 10:22 am

        Thank you Donna!

    2. Denise Zdziennicki

      April 27, 2023 at 11:59 am

      These are frigg'n adorable Kathy!!!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 27, 2023 at 7:58 pm

        Thanks Girl!

    3. Sue at Blu

      April 20, 2023 at 8:02 pm

      I have to tell you O was a bit skeptical at first. But Holy Cow! You nailed it! …like you always do! Love this project! And Modelo.

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2023 at 8:26 pm

        Thank you. My hubby is the beer drinker! You know what I drink, lol.

    4. gail

      April 20, 2023 at 7:26 pm

      Kathy
      What an amazing knockoff of the West Elm products! You did an awesome job. Wondering if the $25 includes the price of the beer lol
      Pinned!
      gail

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2023 at 8:26 pm

        Ha! My hubby bought the beer so it doesn't count!

    5. Naomi Shelton

      April 20, 2023 at 5:30 pm

      Amazing! What a weird, quirky idea in the first place! And then for West Elm to market them at such an inflated price! Yours are absolutely as cute if not cuter! The only thing I like better about the West Elm version is that they are matte surfaced. But that's just a personal preference. You did a great job!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2023 at 8:27 pm

        You are right about the matte finish. The chalk black one is matte and I like it alot.

    6. Kristin salazar

      April 20, 2023 at 1:34 pm

      These turned out better than the $200 crazy price tag! You truly did an amazing job!!!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2023 at 8:27 pm

        Thanks!

    7. Sarah @ Sadie Seasongoods

      April 20, 2023 at 9:18 am

      These are seriously incredible, Kathy! I can't believe how much they look like the West Elm versions.

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2023 at 8:27 pm

        Thanks Sarah!

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