Elegant ‘tin can’ tea light holder
1) Who said baked beans and a naked flame don’t mix…
2) …hey, don’t get too close (just in case).
For this week’s craft I’ve rested my son’s felt-tip pens and pursued one of my other passions, creating beautiful things out of junk – in this case an elegant tea light holder made from an empty tin of Heinz Baked Beans (the beans on toast were pretty good as well). So why not give it a go, it’s a great way to ‘upcycle’?
It took about an hour and a half to make, and proved to be a much simpler project than I was expecting. It turns out that tin cans are made of very thin tin, all you need are a pair of ‘tin snips’, it’s as easy as cutting through paper with scissors. You’ll find instructions on how to make one below, I’ve also included a stencil for download, this should make marking up the can much quicker.
If you like this project be sure to check out next week’s craft – I’ll be showing you how to make a stylish rustic bowl from twigs and wire.
Please note: In Step 5, the strips you bend upwards form the base of the tea light holder, so you will need to invert the can to make sense of Steps 6 and 7. Also, and thanks to Sarahbelle42 for pointing this out, I wrapped the bottom strips around a pencil to help create the tight curls in Step 6.
Includes:
1) Mark-up stencil – print out at 100%
2) Collectable instructions – they are useful and they look good
356 downloads so far, thanks everyone! (updated weekly)
If you are interested in the environment and crafting there are quite a few really useful blogs around. How can I recycle this? offers great ideas for making use of discarded stuff. Also check out, Crafting a green world – its full of projects that make use of recycled materials – it has some great ideas.
[...] What I Made – This blog is so PRETTY. Scott makes loads of fun stuff, writes really easy to follow tutorials and just look at this tin can tea Light holder! [...]
Hi, I leved this idea very much, as well as the tutorial!
I shared a link to this post on my blog.
If you want to have a look:
http://crearescout.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/10-e-piu-modi-per-riciclare-gli-imballaggi/
Thank you for sharing your idea!
Cecilia
Thanks for the link Cecilia!
Holy WOW!! I am amazed, not only by your homemade tin can candle holder but your graphics as well!! Thank you for sharing the how-to on this, I am excited to make one myself now!!
Thank you Christina. Scott:-)
Hi there,
Saw this on Dollar Store Crafts!! People with imaginations always amaze me. I’m sadly lacking, I’m afraid. I can usually do the work or if in a group can run with an idea but to think of that idea – NOPE!!
Anyhoo, great blog! London – Canada or England? I’m in London, Ontario, Canada.
Cathy
Hi Cathy,Yes, London England! Thanks for the comment. Scott:-)
Hi Scott! I have tried to download your file for this project but it says I need Winrar to open it. Any help? Thanks so much!
Thanks for the comment – I’ll email the files to you. All the best. Scott.
beautiful!!!!
Brilliant! Really nice blog as well. After the post on DSC I came over and will be back again.
Must get some tin snips though
Thank you for the comment. And yes, get some tin snips, they’re are one of my favourite tools – you can make so much stuff from them, you’ll never throw away old biscuit/sweet tins again! Scott
Scott, you’re awesome! Totally dig your style! What an incredible creative blog, and original project! So glad I saw it featured over at Dollar Store Crafts!
Jenn/Rook No. 17
Hi Jenn, Thanks for the comment, I’m glad you dig my blog – I hope you’ll visit again! Scott
Wow, I will definitely have to take the time to make several things from your site Scott! I have plenty of tea lights without proper homes and this should fix that.
Thanks Lauren – let me know how you get on. Scott
Hi and this is great but how do you shape the cup thing on the top.
I just stuck loads of short bits of spaghetti into the marshmallow, at an angle, creating a sort of bowl shape. You should be able to get the gist from my diagram above, the last pic. Cheers Scott
Hi Scott,amazing project, and I just love it in profile! I’m going to toss this into the crafty links at my blog linking party, but would love it if you’d stop by and share some more projects too. Plus you’ll definitely find some inspiration at this week’s party from last week’s features…just a bit more masculine than usual! Hope to see you there!
Thanks for including my project in your Craft Schooling Sunday post. And BTW I really like the candle print technique – never thought of doing a candle craft before, but I would love to try this using some one of my illustrations. Thanks Scott
I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I linked to this post today from the Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip.
Your feature will appear in the main Craft Gossip RSS feed, on the main home page and can be found directly here.
If you would like a “featured by” button, you can grab one here!
That’s great – thanks Amanda!
What a unique tutorial!! These would look so great on a New Years Eve spread! I’ve added this to my Tin Can Crafts roundup today. Thanks so much!!
Hi Katie, thanks for the comment and thanks for adding my ‘tin can trea light holder’ to your craft roundup. BTW just had a look at your blog, it looks great. Scott
My kitchenware is almost all SS, so this will go well with what i have, and i love upcycling so i was thrilled to find this! Thanks!
Hey dude, nice idea, also <3 the background.
I’m an instant fan! I am so good at taking the cans to the recycling center but I just love this idea. I have a huge tomato juice can and with some modification I think I will be on my way to a large scale candle holder from what you have shown me. Maybe even a centerpiece made from several sized cans. Thank you for making my day!
That sounds like a great idea – good luck and thank you for visiting. Scott
I’m new to this blog and really loved this piece. How innovative, will definitely try this out.
This is really cool! Was looking for something to do for centerpieces for a reception and this may just be it! LOVE IT!!
Cool blog, I’m now following you! I followed you over from Craft Gossip’s page, to see your tutorial on the tin tea light.. really cool, I have a bunch of those tin cans I can put to good use, instead of cluttering up my land fill with’em!
If you have a button to grab, I would love to add you to my link page?
It’s great to get a new visitor and I’m glad you found the tutorial useful. Thanks for the link offer, I don’t have a button at the moment, but will put it on the ‘to do’ list. Thanks again. Scott
I’ve seen several variations on this and yours is definitely the most elegant and doable.
Thanks Melissa – yes, I was also surprised how a fairly simple technique could make such a big change to the tin can! Scott
Wow scott this is brilliant!!
Thanks Janice – nice to have you visit again. Scott;-)
Congratulations, you are really imaginative and inventive. Keep up the efforts. We need more person to use things what we would normally throw away. Best Wishes Babbs
Hi Babbs, thanks for the comment, I really appreciate the positive feedback. Next week’s craft involves using twigs and a recycled tin of chocolates! Come back and check it out. Scott
Hello!!
I love this blog,
Excuse for my english… its really bad… ;D
Kisses from Madrid.
Thanks Natalia
I love it, but how would you go about curling the strips? Do you wrap them around a marker or something similar?
Yes, actually that’s exactly what I did – great minds think a like! Thanks for the comment
Scott
I can’t believe how beautiful this project looks! My husband really needs to make one for me.
Also, there is this huge tin can from preserved red beets that I have been saving for something, I think this is it… Maybe it’ll make a lovely chair. Thank you for sharing this. Love, Laura from Helsinki, Finland
Hello Helsinki! Thanks so much for the comment. Tin cans are a great material to work with, I once made a table from an old 25 litre paint tin – check it out. I’d love to see what you finally make, send me a picture. Good luck and visit again. Scott
I love the design of your blog!!
Hugs from Ireland
Thanks so much – Meninheira
The candle holder is so clever and elegant. Can not wait to see what you think of next. Margot Newberry
Thanks very much – next week’s craft will be how to make a stylish bowl from twigs (gathered from a woods) and some wire. Please come back and check it out next Monday. Thanks Scott
This looks great!
Just wondering though, do you have an issue with the strips being sharp at the edges? I have been badly cut by tin cans and that has put me off doing some interesting craft projects with them…
Hi Sarah, In some instances I think this can be a problem, especially if you use soft-drink (Coke) cans which have even thinner tin. The tin snips I use have a slightly serrated edge which means the edges of the tin aren’t completely smooth and therefore less sharp. Also, for this particular craft the edges are slightly less exposed because they are rolled back and packed together – my 2 young boys have both handled the tea light holder without any problems. Hope this is helpful – thanks for the comment. Scott
wow this is great! i wish i had a pair of tin snips… hmm… big box hardware store is on my way home…
I love the illustrated tutorial.
Thanks Lori – I’m glad you like the illustrated tutorial, I thought it would make a change from lots of step by step photographs.
This looks great Scott!
Thanks Patricia