Are you throwing all your empty tin cans away? I suggest you stop! Learn to make a quick and easy silverware caddy from recycled tomato tin cans that you will absolutely love!
I recently realized that I throw out (in the recycle) between 2-4 metal tin cans a week. Why does this matter?
Well, since I love to create things for my home and encourage you guys to do so also I feel this as missed opportunity! It’s amazing what you can create with some tins and a bit of imagination (check out Pinterest for thousands of ideas! and don’t forget to follow my account for lots of mazing daily inspiration!) and today I’m going to show you one simple craft idea you can create yourself in just 10 minutes!
I needed a place to store cutlery, so with this in mind I set off to create a very simple but cute silverware caddy that I’m kinda, totally in love with!
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With the warmer weather starting to slowly set in I’m already thinking outdoor entertaining. We have family coming over to visit us for 6 weeks in the next couple of months and entertaining is high up on the agenda! But this silverware caddy really is a multipurpose item that I can use all year long, not just for outdoor entertaining.
I recently had some friends over for dinner and served a self serve mini buffet for everyone to enjoy. I popped this little caddy in the middle of the table and I loved how easy it was for everyone to help them selves to cutlery.
TO RECREATE THIS SILVERWARE CADDY
Supplies and Material:
Old/unwanted tin cans
Small Wood Crate– You can purchase these on Amazon or your local craft store.
Hot glue and hot glue gun
Burlap Fabric or thick burlap ribbon.
Black chalkboard paint– do not confuse this with chalk paint, they are two different type of paints.
White acrylic or chalk style paint- I used Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint
Paint Brush x 2
Scissors
Here’s a before for you to enjoy 😛 haha.
How to make your own silverware caddy
To start, I painted the crate with black chalkboard paint. This only took a couple of minutes and was dry within 10 minutes!
I painted the inside and outside and found I only needed one coat on the entire crate.
Next I removed the sharp edge around the inside of the tin cans by using the back of a butter knife to hammer down the sharp edge. You can use a rough metal file to file it all down but I found this to work just fine and it was very fast. I checked it after and it was no longer sharp.
I painted the tin cans with while chalk style paint. I only did one coat but it was a generous application.
Apply chalk paint to dry. It only takes about 5-10 minutes for it to fully dry which is the biggest reason I absolutely love anything chalk paint! You can see my DIY Lazy Susan , Ikea Rast Hack and this Starfish Wall Art for more crafts painted with chalk paint!
I quickly measured out my burlap and cut it into thick trips that could be wrapped around the entire tin can. I wanted the burlap to cover the majority of the cans.
Using a small amount of hot glue. I stuck the burlap to one side of the can, wrapped it around the can and finished sticking the other end of the fabric with some more hot glue. This took a matter of seconds!
If you want to add extra prettiness to your tins or want to give your silverware caddy an vintage feel then I would suggest adding nice pieces of cream lace to the tin cans.
The crate was made with the intention of wrote on it with chalk. Once the chalkboard paint is dry, season the entire crate with chalk. You do this by rubbing the chalk in it’s side making sure to to make defined marks and lines. Cover the entire crate with chalk.
Finish seasoning by rubbing the chalk into the crate with a clean cloth. Rub off excess chalk powder off with the same cloth.
And there you have it friends! My very easy to make DIY silverware caddy that only took 10 minutes! Isn’t it cute? I really am in love with it and I’m actually contemplating making more as gifts for friends!
You can use this as kitchen storage to save space if draw space is limited. Use it outside, inside, wherever. Place mason jars in it, leave it with tins, place some pretty flowers in it as a nice display or add faux succulents. The options are limitless!
Even though I could see myself adding cute pens into this little caddy and making it a cute craft storage caddy, I love it the way it is and I’m happy to let it be what it is mean to be, a silverware caddy! But, if I get bored I know that I can use it in so many other ways and you can also!
Love this idea but don’t want to make your own? Here are some of my favorites on Amazon!
I love a tin can craft! Your caddy looks great I especially love the mini chalkboard crate.
Thanks Claire. I loved the mini chalkboard crate also! Felt pretty proud of myself when I came up with it 😛 lol.
Very nice idea Maria, and I know we all have more than enough cans that we know what to do with!
Haha. right Mary! Too many cans but I love it. I have big plans for all my cans. So many ideas running through my head. Just need to find the time 😉
This is such a great diy for upcoming summer outdoor entertaining! Thanks for the idea.
Thanks so much Lynn! Glad you like it and yes, will be perfect for the summer, I can NOT WAIT! 😀 x
Great for the summer and all the parties and get togethers. Thanks.
I just can’t wait for the weather to get warmer so I can go out and entertain with it. It was warm for a couple of weeks and now it feels like winter again! Thanks Gail 🙂
Perfect for the patio! I am going to be making these soon. I have loads of burlap too! They turned out perfectly! Love them!
Thanks Carolann! Such a fun weekend craft! Enjoy.
Love that you have used tin cans for this project! They would make great gifts.
Thanks Sam! Yes, I think it would make a great gift also! 🙂
I love the use of the tin cans! I shall make some of my own. I already have a vintage style crate in shades of blue and green which I can put to good use as at the moment is hidden in the cupboard. Thank you for a great idea :).
Thanks Teodora! Glad you like the ideas. That crate sounds perfect for this craft! 🙂