DIY Craft: Create Art from Beer Cans to Keep Gardens free of Pests

Stop! Don't crush those empty beer cans into some unusable little recycle balls this summer. You can get back to that recycle thought after you are done using them as beer can flower whirligigs that help to keep the birds and rabbits from eating your garden.

Supplies Needed:

2 cans of beer in your favorite color.

One set of 6-pack plastic rings or other similar plastic.

Tin snips or old scissors that you don't mind dulling.

One long finishing nail

One short fat nail.

One small piece of very sticky duct tape or electrical tape.

A wood stick or garden fence to nail your beer can whirligig to.

Gloves

Straw (optional)

Step One: Put on gloves, cut beer cans are very sharp.

Step Two: Drink two brews from aluminum beer cans that come in a nice colored container. Try not to dent the beer can while you are emptying it with gloves on your hands. Yes, using a straw might work to drain the beer cans faster, but be aware that the younger adults claim that you get drunk fast this way.

Step Three: When your beer cans are empty, set one aside one can and carefully cut the top off of the first beer can with a pair of tin snips or old scissors. Keep your gloves on, these cans are very sharp.

Step Four: Take your topless beer can and start cutting stripes from top to bottom about one finger-width apart. Cut the same sized stripes all of the way around the beer can from top to bottom.

Step Five: After you are done cutting your topless beer can into stripes, carefully fold the ends of the strips, where they attach to the beer can bottom, outward so that the beer can stays in an open, flat, flower-like shape.

Step Six: Carefully cut the top and bottom off of your second beer can so that you have a flat piece of aluminum beer can to work with. Take one corner of this flat piece of can and fold it inward to the far edge of the can. Then fold the beer can to stay in this position. Cut off the unfolded part of the beer can and set it aside.

Step Seven: Open up your folded piece of beer can and notice that you have a square piece of aluminum can. Fold that square again so that when open it up, it has an X drawn in folded lines across the square shape.

Step Eight: Cut along the folded lines that you made in the square toward the center and stop about one-half inch before the center on each line. Set this square part aside.

Step Nine: On your larger beer can whirligig part; take a pencil-like object like a pencil and wrap each petal of your beer can inwards towards bottom of the can, just a little, so that it has a nice looking curl on the end. With a short fat nail, make a hole in the center of this beer can whirligig piece and set it aside.

Step Ten: With your short fat nail, make a hole in the center of your smaller square beer can whirligig piece. Next, make a hole with the fat nail in one outside edge corner point. Skip the next corner point. Do this on all 4 pieces so that you can make a simple pinwheel shape while putting your beer can whirligig together. Click here to see what a child's pinwheel looks like to help you with placing the point holes if you are lost.

Step Eleven: Cut two small chunks off of your plastic six-pack rings that are large enough to put the fat nail through to turn them into rough looking washers like you would use to fix a dripping kitchen faucet. After making holes with the fat nail, thread them both onto your finishing nail and duct tape the top one across the top of the finishing nail to hold it in place. The underside plastic should be rubbing against the other plastic piece on the nail.

Step Twelve: Thread your pinwheel piece onto the finishing nail so that it looks like a pinwheel. Click here to see what a pinwheel looks like.

Step Thirteen: Make two more beer can 6-pack washer rings like you did in step eleven above and thread them onto your finishing nail.

Step Fourteen: Put your larger beer can whirligig piece onto the finishing nail next so that you have what looks like a beer can flower with a whirligig center. Re-curl any petals that do not look nice so that they do not touch the spinning center piece of your beer can whirligig.

Step Fifteen: Make two more beer can 6-pack washer rings like you did in step eleven above and thread them onto your finishing nail. Nail this to a wood stick or garden fence where it can flash in the sunlight as it spins to keep the rabbits and birds out of your garden.

Options:

These beer can whirligigs look nice in groups.

If your beer can whirligig is not spinning in the center and slowly changing position on the outside ring, check your plastic washers to make sure that they are rubbing against each other smoothly and not getting caught.