Did I say aluminum cans? On what page do you find aluminum cans in the Idea Book? Of course you don't find aluminum cans in the Idea Book, but you do find the Big Shot and Dies beginning on page 204. Most of you who are familiar with the Big Shot know that the rule based dies aren't just for cutting paper. They can also be used for wood, vinyl, fabric, plastic, cork board, chip board, and even aluminum. I guess you would call these projects "repurposing" the aluminum cans since they are going from a beverage holder to a Christmas ornament.
To start, you will need a good pair of gloves to protect your hands when you cut apart the cans. You'll also want to rinse all the cans out very well before beginning. Cut the cans apart, discarding the top and the bottom (you can save the tabs to use as an embellishment on cards and scrapbook pages). Cut the can open cutting down the length of the can. Once it is flat, place on your die, making your sandwich and cut as you would paper. Wear your gloves when discarding the scraps, but the ornament itself will have smooth edges.
I made snowflakes, stars and even some icicles. For the snowflakes, I used the Snowflake #2 Die. The edges will be nice and smooth once cut. Since there are openings in the flake, you don't need to punch any additional holes to create your hanger. Use ribbon, fishing line, fabric strips or tinsel trim as your hanger. I pretty much used a mix for my ornaments. I had some fun cutting some strips of fabric with the Tasteful Trim Die and using that for hangers.
For the stars, I used the Stars #2 die and created two styles of ornaments. One with single stars and one with triple stars, stringing them together with fishing line. I used my Crop-a-dile and paper piercing tool to create the holes I needed for the hanger and to connect the stars. Again, for hangers, use ribbon, tinsel trim, fabric strips, or fishing line
For the icicles I used the Tasteful Trim and Table Setting dies to cut aluminum strips. When using the Tasteful Trim die, the can will not go the entire length of the die so you will end up with one sharp end. This end should be carefully folded over using pliers to hide the sharp edge. This is the end I used for my hanger. I twisted my pieces to get a spiral effect. I also used the Table Setting die to create a spiral ornament adding some clear beads to the bottom using fishing line. This gave it just enough weight to pull the spiral out just a bit. I used fishing line for the hanger.
That's day 2, aluminum cans and a Big Shot. I personally love the look of the snowflakes and it reminds me of the first Christmas Tree that Tim and I had as a couple. We had very little money, just enough to buy a very small tree, just about 5 feet tall. We were able to add a few lights and a very small number of ornaments by spending a few dollars at the dollar store. I think we spent $30. It was a modest tree to say the least. One evening, as I sat looking at our tree, I decided it needed more. I spent the evening cutting snowflakes using some plain white paper and hung them to our tree using paper clips. Suddenly, our tree was a little prettier. Now, our tree is filled with ornaments we've collected over the years but every year, we find one or two of those paper snowflakes in the box and they go on the tree. I can just imagine how beautiful our first tree would have been if I'd had a Big Shot in my hands!
God Bless and Happy Stampin!
Charity
