Categories: Decorating & Design

Pop or Beer Can Lights

Needed:
Pop or beer can
Tea light
Craft knife
Nail and wire (only if you need to make a handle)
Marker
Tape measure
Water

Have you ever seen miniature chairs, tables, and similar things, made from soda or beer cans? It’s interesting how they’re cut like this, and curled like that, to create astonishingly beautiful furnishings for a dollhouse, or knickknacks for your home. But have you ever tried to cut an aluminum can? It can be rather tricky. The can is so flimsy that, when you try to cut it, it just caves in. When you learn a trick to cutting aluminum cans you can create your own masterpieces. One that you’ll really love is a tea light holder.

When you make decorative soda or beer can lights, they don’t end up being as tall as the original cans. In fact, after you’re finished with them, they end up being about half as tall. To make one of the lights, empty the soda and rinse the can. Then, fill the can with water and freeze it. That will make it so much easier to cut, shape, and design the aluminum tea light. Freeze the can 6 to 8 hours and no longer.

Wad up a towel and lay the can on it; that will keep the can steady as you cut it. To begin, pop the top and try to keep the tab intact. It can be used to hang the finished light. However, if the tab comes off you can still make a hanger for the light.

See also Oven Roasted Beer Can Chicken

Wrap a tape measure around the top of the can, about an inch from the top, and mark 12 dots, which are equally spaced. Do the same to the bottom so that they align with the top holes. Then, draw lines between the top dots and the bottom ones. How you draw the lines will determine how the finished tea light looks. To explain, let’s call any random dot on the top row “dot 1”. Draw a line from dot 1 on top, to dot 1 on the bottom. Or, draw from dot 1 on top, to dot 2 on the bottom. Or, go from dot 1 to dot 3. Each arrangement will give you a different look to the finished light. If you have no tab for hanging the light, poke a hole on each side of the can – opposite of each other – near the top.

Use a craft knife to cut a slit from one dot to the next, according to the drawn lines you’ve made. After cutting all the slits, allow the ice to melt, and dry the can. Then, push on the top to squish the can, while using a screwdriver to push each cut area outwards. Slowly push the can, making sure that no slits bend inwards. When you’re finished, cut a couple of the aluminum strips out so that you can slide in a tea light. If needed, connect a wire to the side holes to create a handle. Hang the finished light anywhere, indoors or out.