Ever wondered what you could make with old tin cans?
Items such as fizzy pop cans or baked beans tins?
It is a resource so open to us but it can often be unused.
Here is our DIY tin can penguin pencil holder.
To make this you can use your washed-out tin cans, and sand around the edges to make it smooth and safe.
However, don’t worry the rough scary edges are going to get covered anyway!
Cutting The White Felt
First, you want to cut out the intricate shapes, the white belly and eyes in white felt.
We managed to cut the belly shape using our Cricut merging a circle with a square shape on the Cricut Design Space.
The Cricut struggled with the round motion for the eyes as they were so small and we feel the mat didn’t have a great hold on the felt.
We persevered and cut the eyes out with scissors.
Alternatively, you can use a hole punch to create rounded eyes if you want something quicker and easier.
Cutting The Yellow Felt
Next, you want to cut the yellow felt pieces.
For these pieces, you want to cut the feet and the beak.
The beak is a simple triangle with the point going down. We were able to use our Cricut to cut the feet as they were a larger space to work on.
Cutting The Black Felt
The last part of the preparation is cutting the black felt. This is the base that will go onto the can and 2 small circles for the pupils of the eyes.
To cut the black felt for covering the can place the can onto the felt. You want the felt to cover the can from top to bottom + 1.5 inches extra.
This extra length will be enough to turn over and cover the rough edge of the can.
Glueing Together
To start heat up your glue gun with a fresh stick inserted.
If you are working with children you can buy cool glue guns from places such as Hobbycraft or use a non-toxic adhesive instead. (there are plenty of options that will work)
Wrap your black felt piece around the can, glueing it in place as you go.
Remember to line one of the edges up with the base so you have plenty of overhangs to cover the inside.
Once the felt is glued all the way around the can, you want to carefully cut it into the overhanging felt.
Snip down to the can top every 1.5cm (roughly) to create wide fringing.
This will help the felt mould around the can easily and cover the rougher edges.
Glue each piece down as you go around, leaving the top of the tin can safe and soft to the touch.
Next step in making your DIY tin can penguin pencil holder is glueing on the white felt pieces.
Start with the tummy first and line up the straight edge to the bottom of the tin can.
Make sure all the edges are glued down in place and press on firmly. Then you want to repeat the process for the eyes.
Next, you want to move on to the yellow felt pieces, this is the beak and the feet.
The feet want to be low down on the tin can sitting just over the tummy a little, this will make it look like it is sat down.
Glue the beak over the top of the tummy area below the eyes.
Move on to placing in the black pupils on the eyes last, you can make them straight or wiggly for fun. If you want to be super fun change these up for googly eyes.
That is it!
You have finished your DIY tin can penguin pencil holder.
You can do the same techniques to create many more animals, people and objects to use around the home, school or make as gifts.