Decorating a Tin Can…Ballard Style

 

Have you seen the Dog Food Canister in the Ballard Designs Catalog???  I have wanted one of these can ever since spotting it in their catalog but can’t quite seem to place the order.  I think that has something to do with the $49.00 price tag associated with it.  It’s cute but not $49.00 worth of cute.

Then on one of my recent trips to the Goodwill I spotted this steel can.  The price tag said $1.99.  Sold.

I took it home and washed it up.  Then took it outside for some American Accents Heirloom White Re-hab.

I gave it two coats of paint and let it dry over night.  I really wanted the paint to adhere so that I don’t have it chipping off when take the lid on and off.

Next step was to decorate it somehow.

 

I settled on painting some numbers on it since I was just itching to use my new number stencils.  They worked so well on my Burlap Place Mats Project that I wanted to try them on something else.  Now I have to say I do like the look I achieved with these stencils but I also have to tell you they were much more difficult to work with on a hard surface like this for some reason.   I even used my favorite blue painter’s tape.   The edges were not nearly as crisp as I would have like and I had lots of smudging and had to go back over most of the numbers with a small paint brush.  Next time I think I will try spray adhesive in addition to the painter’s tape. 

  But overall, I am happy with how it turned out. :)

If you want to try this yourself, keep your eyes out for cans like this one or even those old popcorn or potato chip cans.  They could easily be turned into a container just like mine.  This will be a much more attractive way to store Oakley’s dog food and it cost me next to nothing to make. 

And here’s another thought…Wouldn’t a can like this be cute if you painted a big rectangle on it with chalkboard paint?  Then you could use chalk to write anything you want on it.   I also found a cute stamp of a dog’s paw.  That would be cute on a can like this if it was going to be used as the dog food container. I found another empty can at Goodwill the other day so I think that I  might be an making another one.  Chalkboard or Dog paw?

I am going to link this project up over at Twice Remembered Cottage for MAKE IT MONDAY.  Come see what everyone else has been making.