Another Take on Going Green

Welcome back to another Dream Scheme Thursday.  We were given a lot of latitude on this month's "green" challenge – it could be a St. Patrick's Day theme, the color green, or the reduce, reuse, recycle take on "going green."  You also need to know that I have a rather large box of items that fit into the "Oh, I could use this for a  __(fill in the blank)__ project."  At the moment, there are a lot of metal tea containers waiting to begin their second life as, in today's project, a colored pencil holder for my desk.

Here we go!

I began by measuring the can and cutting the green colored aluminum to size.   I would usually run the stencil (the newly released Pinwheel Checkerboard LX7013) and metal through an embossing machine, but I wanted the metal to have more dimension so I placed it on a softer surface that would allow me to push the metal (colored side down) through the stencil holes a little more.  I tried a number of different surfaces and ended up with a thin piece of very dense foam.  With a paper stump, I rubbed the back of the metal pushing it through the openings in the stencil, giving more definition.  The final step is to turn the metal over and lightly sand it to remove the green color from the raised areas.  

To adhere the metal to the container, you'll need to use a strong adhesive, like the red line tape.  There are different kinds on the market, but you get the idea.  Tape all four sides, position it on the container and fill with pencils, or whatever it is you need to store.  You could also decorate the lid, fill it with green jelly beans, and give it to someone for St. Patrick's Day.  There are a lot of beautiful background stencils (LX size) to choose from and the possibilities are endless.   Sanding off the color is just one technique; don't forget about the Color Solutions alcohol inks . . . they're perfect for coloring on metal.

For more ideas and inspiration, check out the Dream Team blogs below.  You're sure to find something to get the creative juices flowing.   And when you've finished your project, be sure to link it using Mr. Linky to the Dreamweaver blog, Dream it Up!  There are prizes to be won at the end of the month, you know!

 Pam Hornschu  
 Laura Drahozal
 Louise Healy
 Wendy Jordan
Terrece Siddoway
Kristi Van Doren
Georgia Sommers
 Lee Kellogg
Liz Martin. . . you're here
Cyndi Bundy
Cherylynn Moser
Jessie Hurley

 

See you next week,

Liz