How To: Soda Can Flower Lights

I know the holidays aren't upon us just yet, but they are right around the corner.  Forgive me, I know some people go crazy when everyone gets all Christmas-ey before Thanksgiving, but this project requires some prep time! I promise not to go too "deck the halls" on you right now.  Plus, these can be used year round.  I've been saving this one to share for a bit.  I love Christmas lights, so much that I stock up on them every time I start to see them in the stores.  Because really, have you tried to buy a strand of simple white lights in July? You either can't find them, or they are 4X the price... Can someone just open up a year round Christmas light store?! I'd be there all the time, and I know I'm not alone. Who's with me?

Moving on.. Today's How-To uses a strand of white lights, some soda cans, and a die cut machine.  If you don't have a die cut machine, you could cut these out by hand, but please... use gloves!

Tutorial & Photo Source: Curbly

Aren't these adorable?  Not just for the holidays either, I'd use them year round. Especially on the patio. The use of the die cut machine in this was a real "Ah-ha!" moment for me.  I love aluminum cans, and all the lanterns you see using cans are adorable.  But the problem that stuck out was always the cutting of the cans.  Seemed not only tedious but dangerous - remember in the movie Twister, when they cut all those cans into little fans to lift the detector-thingys (technical term..haha) up into the twister? Yea. Their hands were seriously cut up, and that always stuck with me.  So that machine would be a huge shortcut. Worth the investment if you don't have one, they come in handy all the time.

To see the full tutorial on this, head over to Curbly, one of the most amazing DIY sites out there.  An interesting twist on this would be to paint the backside.  While spray painting light-weight aluminum flowers seems like a nightmare, let me suggest press and seal paper.  I came across this pointer recently, from the genius over at Cheltenhamroad.  Take whatever small thing you plan to paint, put it on your press and seal paper, then do as it sounds. Press, to seal, and that paper will hold onto the tiny items long enough for you to paint them without blowing them off the table.  I can't tell you how many times that tip would have helped me! He lays the directions out far better than I could, here.

In other news, we are officially homeowners, and we got our keys on Tuesday! It's so exciting, a little scary, but mostly exhilarating.  I'm really looking forward to all the projects we are about to tackle, and I can't wait to share them all with you.  I know there's a lot of sweat, blood & tears in the future, but it's all going to be worth it.  We have a ton of ideas, so here we go - wish us luck! Have a fantastic weekend!

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