How to Make Decorative Candle Covers Out of Tin Cans

With Autumn, the most social of seasons, in full swing many people are rushing to throw outdoor get togethers before snow and chilly weather come and crash the party. The following project involves using inexpensive tin or aluminum cans to make attractive and festive candle covers. Much like a jack-o-lantern these "punched tin" candle covers are receptive to many different designs which will glow softly when a candle or other light source is place inside the can.

Start planning for this project a few weeks ahead of time, depending on how much canned goods your family consumes and how many candle covers you would like to make, by collecting cans. Try to collect different size cans for different sizes candles, such as small tomato paste cans for votives or big coffee cans for pillar candles.

Prep the cans by removing their labels and then run the cans through your dishwasher. Alternatively you can soak the cans in hot, soapy water with a few tablespoons of baking soda added to it for every gallon; this will clean and deodorize the cans. After you soak the cans for a few hours, scrub them thoroughly to remove any food remnants and any adhesive used to affix the label to the can and then rinse thoroughly.

There is no need to wait for the cans to dry because in the next step you fill each can with cool water nearly to the rim (but not so much that you can't put it in the freezer without spilling it). After you have filled each of the cans with water place them in the freezer for a few hours or until the water inside them is frozen solid. The ice inside the can will support the metal and prevent it from bending while you punch small holes in it to form a design.

You can create designs for each can while you are waiting for the water to freeze. I draw my designs the actual size that I would like them to be on the can, and I don't actually draw the whole design I mainly draw dots that outline the design. Each dot corresponds to a hole that I will punch in the can.

When making your designs be creative, the candle covers are great to have in autumn, spring and summer to stop wind from blowing candles out. This gives you many different design opportunities. Some examples would be pumpkins near Halloween time, or hearts for Valentine's day. I once made some large ones that said Happy Birthday, and had the birthday girl's name on them.

Once you are finished with the designs, gather a hammer, nails and scotch tape if you want to tape your design to the can. Next cut out your designs and ready the first one with several pieces of scotch tape on it.

After you have completed this remove ONE can from the freezer. It's imperative that the others stay frozen while you work on the first one. If you take them all out at once the others will start melting which can get messy, and will mean you'll have to re-freeze them before you can continue.

Tape your design directly to the can. Hold a sharp nail against each dot on your design and tap it hard with a hammer. The nail will punch holes into the metal. Once you have punched all of the dots you are finished. Remove the design quickly as the melting ice in the can will soon wet the paper. Then place the finished can in the sink so the ice can melt and drain out.

After the ice has melted and drained, dry the cans and they will be ready to use. To use the candle covers place candles on appropriate fire safe surfaces, light them and then place the candle covers over the candles. Just as candles and other open flames should be kept away from children, these candle covers should be kept out of the reach of little ones while they are in use. They do not provide any fire safety bonus and the covers can also heat up after extended use. I suggest using a dry, folded wash cloth to shield your hands when moving hot candle covers.