Scavenger Chic

2 Ways to Recycle your Old Paint Cans

• By Joan
• April 9, 2015
• 14 Comments

Upcycle Paint Cans (2 Ways)

A couple of months ago, when I was cleaning out my workshop, I came across several cans of paint that were either dried up, virtually empty or I hadn’t used the color in 10 years.  The paint that still had some life in it was taken to the ReStore but the other cans had definitely outlived their usefulness. Before I tossed them, was there anything they could be used for?  So for now, the cans went back on the shelf and have been patiently waiting for me ever since. I knew I could figure out some way to upcycle some perfectly good paint cans.

Well, it has been a couple of months and I finally had an idea…a planter.  I’m so glad I’m not on a deadline, because I definitely would have been fired.

Upcycled Paint Can Toy Storage

First thing I had to do was to peel  off the labels from my cans of paint. Since when did a cans of paint start being made out of plastic?  The black can is what I found under the label. The glue spots holding on the labels and any paint drips were easily scraped off with a razor blade.

The texture of the black can felt a little like a chalk board, which gave me a new idea.  Could I write on it with chalk? Yes.  Wouldn’t that be great to store kids toys? Why, yes again.

These labels were written with chalk but for longer lasting lettering you could use a chalk pen or paint.

Upcycled Paint Can Planters

For kids toys, I probably wouldn’t use the paint cans with rusty rings and I would finish off the edge a bit more.  Maybe fill in the ridge with hot glue and then paint or with a length of rope. But I digress, my kids are too old (even though I still have a bunch of toys) and I’m making a planter.

So, for the planters, I wanted a black and white striped pattern.  So, first step is to tape off the stripes with painters tape.

The paint cans were then sprayed with white spray paint. Don’t let the paint dry too long before removing the painters tape or it will pull off bits of your paint.

Is it just me, but I never have great luck with painters tape and tend not to use it when I paint a room because of bleeding.  This was no exception.  However, the paint was easily touched up with a sharp blade on the black  to scrape off any over spray and white touch up paint.

I wanted to embrace my paint cans history, so I added paint drips around the top of my cans.  Purple, for the pansies I picked up at the store.

A six inch plastic flower pot rests perfectly on the brim of the paint can.  I couldn’t have planned that better. 😉

Finished off with a bit of moss that was still sitting in my garden, leftover from my son’s centerpieces from his wedding.

Since I had all the supplies on hand, the total cost for this project was the price of the pansies, around $10.00. I don’t know how durable the paint would be for kids toys, it may scrape off too easily.  Other than chalk, it could be fun to experiment with washi tape which would also make a great kids craft.

So don’t throw away those old paint cans, upcycle!  Stay inspired.

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