Coffee Can Storage

I must ask you all to take a solemn oath of secrecy for what I am about to tell you.  It's a family secret that we've kept under wraps for years.  My mother is a hoarder.  No, really.  I could show you pictures.  She has piles and piles and piles of ...well...everything!  LOL.  Her older sister?  Hoarder.  Now, this makes them a pain in the booty to move and I can never seem to find anything at my mom's house.  The good news?  When I need a bunch of milk jugs for a vacation Bible school project or 40-50 coffee cans for drums in my classroom they can always provide!

Many years ago I found that plastic coffee cans make the best hand drums when a real instrument isn't available.  I had my hoarding kin collect them for me (or dig them out or whatever).  Perfect!  Later I realized they were great for organizing and storing many classroom materials and were exactly the kind of container I needed to sort and organize my Boomwhackers.

This week's project for Summer Project Sundays is coffee can storage.  Are you working on any summer projects?  Link up at the bottom of this post and share your ideas.  Grab this graphic and link back to this post.  Then, add your link to the linky party at the end of this post.

There are a few things that you'll need for this project.  First, you'll need some plastic coffee cans.  If you don't have a hoarding mom or an Aunt Marsha with 40 milk jugs in her shed, send out a note to parents.  You'll be surprised how quickly you'll have exactly the number you need.  I've found that parents are often willing to contribute or donate time or supplies if you just let them know.

You'll also need spray paint.  I don't buy any special kind.  Usually I look for whatever is cheapest at Walmart.  After you've sprayed your coffee cans you can add a clear glaze or not.  I don't think they are lacking without it, but it does add another layer of protection against scratches.  

You'll need a way to attach your labels to the coffee cans.  I usually print out my labels and laminate them and then use a roll of wide, clear packing tape and just tape them on.  Another option is to glue your label on with Mod Podge.  Keep reading to see yet another way to attach your labels.

If you are a music teacher and are making a set of cans to use for Boomwhacker storage, you can download the file that I used HERE.  Teachers of all subjects may want to check out my to see if there's one that would work well in your classroom.

Working outside or in a well ventilated area, spray your cans withe the color of your choice.  After a few experiments, I've discovered that it is best to spray from the top down to reduce runs.  I'm actually doing that in the picture above (although it doesn't look like it) because I turned them open side down to dry.

For this demonstration, I'm using labels from my Rock Star Supply Labels set.  One of the ways that you can attach the labels to the can is tie a cute and graphic ribbon around the can and tie it off in a bow (or not as you'll see below.  I am not a great bow maker.)  To prep the label, laminate it and them punch two holes near the top a centimeter or so apart.

Wrap the ribbon around the top of the can.  There's a handy edge there.  Slip the ribbon through each of the holes in the label and tie it off.  Voila!  This method is a little more labor intense but would definitely add a personal touch.

A rock star themed classroom means lots of glitter!  For this container, I attached the label with clear packing tape and then added these glittery foam stars for a little extra pizzazz.  

This contain has the laminated label attached with only a strip of clear packing tape.  The great thing about using packing tape over the laminated label is that it is easy to remove and replace.

The finished projects!  This is the standard size of coffee can that I had donated.  I also had a few extra large cans and several smaller cans.  I've utilized the larger ones as drums, but the smaller ones are useful for organizing many things.

I used the smaller ones for pencils, markers, hole punches, craft sticks and a variety of manipulatives.  This picture is of one of my hole punch workstations.  I tossed the hole punches and a few pencils in one of the cans and then left it at the workstation.  Handy!

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