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Weekend Upcycled Classroom Creations

This weekend was full of Upcycling for my classroom. It started with some of the #made4math posts a few weeks back, a few hours on Pinterest here and there and then my ever growing scrapbook paper stash to come up with the creations below.

The first of many Upcycled projects was this small Pringles container that is now decorated with a scenic background and a cute top. All of the cut items were made with my Silhouette Cameo. {There will be a tutorial below!} I still don’t know what I will put in this but I love the fact of upcycling a container for my classroom and can’t wait to do it with so many more since we are currently on burn ban out here in the country.

This gum container was something that I had seen on another blog and since hubby grabbed the gum while out and about one day, I knew what I was going to do once he had finished. I wish I had some vinyl handy when I was decorating it and I would have cut a big S from my Silhouette Cameo but Bic Mark It will do.

I have been saving this container from Hills Bros. Cappuccino for at least 3 months. Hubby called me a pack-rat at the time but little did he know that it was going to come in handy in my classroom! I grabbed some My Mind’s Eye The Sweetest Thing and cut it down to fit. I will say for this container, a 12″ strip will not fit around so I added a bit of ribbon on the two sides after I cut the paper in 1/2 at 6″. Added some Basic Grey Monogram letter stickers to the front and called it done! Love the pop of red and gold from the container and how it matches the paper.

The last thing that I have Upcycled {so far} is a regular Pringles can into a ruler holder. There are two sizes of the regular, get the taller of the two. Have your hubby, or yourself, eat out the chips and wash it out. I grabbed some coordinating patterned paper and cut it to 9 1/2″ (circumference) by 10 1/2″ (height). I covered the lines and the top and bottom seams with a bit of Washi Tape. I mirrored the seam strip on the opposite side as well before adhering the letters down that I had cut with my Cameo. I have two more of these to make since our friends gave me two of their containers. WOOT!

1. Buy your Pringles. These were from CVS for $1. I’m sure you can get them cheaper elsewhere but I was hungry and yep, I bought them. LOL! Ate them on the way home too! Wash your can out well and then wipe it down when you get home.

2. Measure your container to get the exact measurements. The smaller containers will need a background piece that is 9 1/2″ (c) x 4 1/2″ (h). I knew with the cloud paper I wanted to create a sky scene so I grabbed my Diamond Lace EK Success Punch and punched some green grass and inked up the edges with Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. Adhere them down near the bottom of the scene. {Heads up: the taller containers are 9 1/2″ x 10 1/2″}

3. Easiest thing was to grab my heavy duty double-sided tape {Scor-Tape works wonders!) and give it a good coat around the can.

4. Carefully place the background sheet down at once starting point making sure the top and bottom are lined up. Since it’s double sided tape, you don’t have much give with this so be careful.

5. Add a touch of ribbon to the top to cover any mistakes you might have made when lining it up or to just make it pretty.

6. Cut out a cute little owl with hearts using the Silhouette Cameo to decorate up the scene a bit. Ink up the middle part of her body to add some shadow. Decided she needed some more so I outlined all the areas. Since I didn’t cut out the black parts of the eyes, I colored them in as well with my Bic Mark It and then added in some whites of the eyes with a Uniball Signo gel pen.

7. I decided it needed a bit more beautifying and I grabbed a few different die cuts I had in my stash already punched/cut out and layered them on top of each other. I added the button tied off with some twine to finish it off.

That’s it! A great way to upcycle items you already have around your house and solve some storage solutions as well! Would love to see your creations if you decided to make something like this as well.

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