In the previous article, Dozens of Uses for Coffee Cans (1) , I explained that we were having a garage sale, and that while cleaning out our basement I came across a plethora of household items that are reusable. One of those items is the dozens of coffee cans I guess I thought I needed to keep. After donating a huge supply of them to a local preschool I began brainstorming other ways to use them.
Here are some awesome ideas:
Baking
You can place bread batter in a tin coffee can (note: plastic will NOT work and will melt in your oven!), or cake batter and bake in your oven. You might need to add additional time to your recipe, to ensure that it is baked throughout. Insert a long knife or skewer to check if it’s done. If any batter comes out on the item, it still needs to cook a bit longer. This makes for a fun shape for a cake and a useful shape for bread. Just cool, slice and eat.
Banks
Coffee cans make fun piggy banks. There are two ways to do it. Either cut a slit into the lid and decorate the can. Or you can turn the can on it’s side, add some legs, create the can into a piggy or other animal and using a knife make a hole in the side of the can. They make perfect rainy day projects and if you decorate them you can place them on the kitchen counter to blend and add your daily change. When they are full, just empty them and treat your family to an outing or a movie. We like to purchase a new board game with our change. Something fun for the whole family.
Gifts
You can use the coffee cans the same way scrapbookers and crafters use paint buckets. Decorate them and fill them up with goodies. You can even use them to put your gift inside as a fun way to “wrap” the gift. They are really great as Christmas gifts for neighbors when you fill them up with baked breads, cookies or brownies. Decorate with papers or paint and embellish. A great gift idea!
Insect Home
Poke a dozen holes through the lid of the can and your child can use the can to store the bugs and critters they find outside. However, encourage your child to release the insects before they meet their demise. Approximately 12 hours is how long a group of insects will live comfortably in one of these cans. Encourage your child to keep them throughout the day and release them in the evening.
Nature Collection Can
You can use these cans for keeping nature items. Perhaps you child has an overabundance of rocks, this is a great way to store them and stack them and keep them out of the way or from being strewn all over the room.
Please see Dozens of Uses for Coffee Cans (3) for more amazing ideas.
Related articles:
Dozens of Uses for Coffee Cans (1)
Dozens of Uses for Coffee Cans (2)
Dozens of Uses for Coffee Cans (3)
Still More Amazing Uses for Coffee Cans