Hello lovelies
How is July treating you? Here in Two Crafty Brownieland, we are starting to wind down already for the Summer hols. Jenny is off on holiday tomorrow with her fab laundry bags and her lovely family; and my brood, hubby and I are counting down the days! Summer term for my family means sports days, end of year performances, meetings with teachers, school fairs and local community festivals. Each year we look forward to celebrating the Summer by licking ice creams, eating burgers cooked on a barbie, drinking pimms and cold beers, jumping on bouncy castles and having a go at classic Summer fair games, such as hook-a-duck, the coconut shy, hoop-la and tin can alley. What are your favourite games to play in the Summer? We visited my family last year and had a go at croquet for the first time, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Some of us (the hubby and I!) were very competitive!
I’ve been wanting to make my own tin can alley for a long time and I have finally got round to it just in time for the kids' Summer fair tomorrow! This project was a lot of fun, very straightforward to make and has great recycling and upcycling credentials. I recycled empty food tins, used up dried lentils past their ‘consume by’ date and used fabric scraps too.
What you need is:
For the cans:
10 empty food tins, washed, soaked and labels peeled off.
Spray paints - I used 10 colours of this brand. Both my hubby and I are big spray painting fans (you may remember this tutorial?) so we had quite a few cans already, but they are pricey at about £6.95 each, so feel free to use as many or as few colours as you wish. Two colours would do! You could also stick strips of washi tape onto the cans, decoupage with paper, fabric or napkins (Jenny’s favourite!) or even decorate pieces of paper (or get the kids to do it!) and stick these on.
Newspaper for protecting surfaces and sticking into the cans when spray painting.
Template of a star. I printed out this image to the correct size (fitting 4 stars to an A4 page) and cut it out.
Masking tape - I suggest testing your masking tape on a painted tin first to make sure it does not peel the paint off. I tried sticky back plastic first and this did peel off the paint when removed, but masking tape was fine.
For the bean bags:
Scraps of fabric - enough to make 3 bean bags. Each bean bag uses 2 squares of fabric measuring 14 x 14cm (5.5” x 5.5”) before hemming. I used star fabric to match the star on the tins.
Stiffening/Interfacing to strengthen the bean bags which are going to get thrown about a lot! I used scraps that I had - you need the same amount as the fabric.
Dried lentils, beans or rice - I had lentils that were out of date. I used 150g (5oz) dried lentils per bag.
Two Crafty Brownies sewing essentials
What you do is.
Wash, soak, peel labels off and dry the used tins, being careful with sharp bits. If there are any sharp edges, bend them inwards so you don’t cut yourself!
Protect your surface with newspaper. It is best to spray outside or in a very well ventilated area and it is advisable to wear a dust mask too.
Stuff a piece of newspaper into each tin, with enough sticking out to act as a sort of handle.
Prepare the spray paint can by shaking it for as long as the manufacturer’s instructions indicate.
Holding the newspaper handle, the tin slightly off the surface and the spray can at a slight angle, spray an even layer of paint onto the surface of the tin, turning as you go.
Leave to dry and repeat with the other tins.
Whilst the tins are drying, sew the bean bags.
Cut out 6 pieces of fabric with the measurements 14 x 14cm (5.5” x 5.5”). I used a rotary cutter, long ruler and cutting mat.
Cut out 6 pieces of stiffening/interfacing with the same measurements.
Lay a piece of fabric right side up on top of a piece of interfacing. Then lay a fabric square on top of this right side down and a square of interfacing on top of this.
Pin together leaving a gap in one side which the filling will go into.
Starting at one side of the gap, machine stitch all the way round with a 0.5cm seam allowance. Stop at the other side of the gap. Remember to do a reverse stitch at the beginning and end to strengthen the seams.
Cut the thread ends and snip the corners.
Turn the bean bag right way round, poking out the corners. Press with a hot iron.
Fill with the dried lentils. I did this with a teaspoon but it may be easier to use a funnel!
Pin the gap closed and then machine stitch close to the edge, reverse stitching at the beginning and the end and cutting the threads again.
Repeat this process with the two remaining bean bags.
Once the tins are dry and you have sewn the bean bags, cut out the paper star and place onto the surface of a tin in the desired position and stick pieces of masking tape onto the tin around the edges of the star without sticking the star to the tin.
When you remove the paper star, you will have an exposed star shape on the tin. Now stick more masking tape around the tin, covering most of the surface closest to the star.
Take a contrasting colour of spray paint and spray the exposed star area. The spray will cover more than the star but that is fine because it is protected by the masking tape (in the step above).
Allow to dry. Once dry, carefully and slowly peel off the masking tape to reveal the contrasting star. I love this bit! In fact, I enjoy this part of the process so much, I got carried away and didn't take any pics! I am sure you get the gist!
Repeat with the other tins.
All that is left to do is to stack up your tins, gather some party people and have a fab game of tin can alley! Such fun!
I loved the process of decorating the tins and the final look of them. I think they would look great as plant pots, vases or desk storage containers. #somanyideassolittletime!
Take care my lovelies and have fun whatever you are up to this weekend.
Much love,
Lucy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A fun tutorial! Years ago I made juggling bags for Stuart, using rice for the filling. Unfortunately a field mouse got into the house and chewed through the fabric to reach the rice!!
Have a great weekend, Anne xx
Posted by: Anne Donald | Friday, 07 July 2017 at 08:33 AM
Hi Anne, that sounds great! Yes I was wondering about the edible nature of the filling! They are in our PTA shed now so it is likely theyll get nibbled! Have a lovely weekend xxxxxx
Posted by: Two Crafty Brownies | Saturday, 08 July 2017 at 05:25 PM
I haven't played croquet in ages - what a fun (and vicious at times!) game it can be!
I wasn't sure from your title what Tin Can Alley was, but now I know. :) What a clever idea to use the newspaper stuffed inside like handles during the spraying!
Posted by: Kelly | Sunday, 09 July 2017 at 01:54 AM
Hi Kelly, yes I did actually hurt my foot when we played because I bashed it with the mallet! But so much fun! Thank you, I needed to find away of not spraying my hands! I hope youre having a lovely weekend xxxxx
Posted by: Two Crafty Brownies | Sunday, 09 July 2017 at 04:29 PM