Tin Cans and Texas Sky

How many empty tin cans can a person save, before they are considered a hoarder?  Whatever that number is, I think I’m getting dangerously close to reaching it.  When there are more empty cans on the shelves in the pantry than full ones, that should be a red flag that I have a tin can obsession.

 I’ve been stockpiling empty tin cans for months now, knowing I wanted to make another tin can wall organizer, like the one I made to hold all my paintbrushes, rulers, etc. (seen here), and I have way more than I need, but I hate to get rid of something that’s so useful.  I was in the dollar store buying tissue paper last week, and spotted some really pretty packs of napkins, with butterflies, script handwriting, and old postmarks, and I knew I’d found the perfect pretty for at least a few of my tin cans!

 I picked 3 assorted size cans and spray painted them white.  Once it dried, I brushed a coat of school glue mixed with a little water around the sides, then lined up the napkin with the base of the can.  You can see the napkins weren’t wide enough to go all the way around the can, so I cut a strip from another napkin to fill the space.

 There was excess napkin at the top of the can, so I just trimmed it, leaving about 2 inches, and brushed more glue inside the can, then folded it inside the can.  Once that was done, I just brushed another coat of glue/water over the whole can, as a protective coat.

I used a perfectly chippy piece of wood that was salvaged from an old door, and just screwed the cans onto the wood, from the inside of the cans.  I put D-ring hangers on the back to hang it by.

Well, that uses up 3 cans.  I just need to make one of these for every member of my extended family, and I might make a dent in my stash.

My parents have been visiting for the last two weeks, and I made a bit of a last-minute decision to ride back to New Mexico with them, along with my youngest son.  He was really young when we moved from New Mexico to Missouri 9 years ago, so he has no memory of going to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, and I wanted him to get to experience the beauty of watching a mass ascension of hundreds of hot air balloons, directly from the field they take off from.  Hopefully, I’ll have some nice photos to share with you of the event when we return.

Right now, I’m stiff and sore, from riding cramped in their back seat since 5:30 this morning.  A good deal of our drive is spent driving through some very barren areas,  but we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset, just as we were crossing the border into the Texas panhandle.  The silhouettes of passing telephone poles and train signals looked so lovely against the watercolor sky.

It’ll be the wee hours of the morning before we arrive, so I’m hoping the remainder of our drive is uneventful, and that my dad will be able to stay alert.

Reminder that if you haven’t yet linked up at the Salvage Style party, you can still do so here.