How To Transform Empty Canisters Into Charming Vases

Transform empty canisters into charming vases with spray paint and washi tape. Mix and match patterns with solid colors for a unique look each time!

Empty canisters? Yes! The original idea was to do recycling. In crafter’s lingo, it’s called upcycling—or turning something not so pretty or useful into an artsy piece that can either be mere eye candy or something functional.

I like functionality. When I spied two old Piknik canisters that had been lying around for years (we had been using them as ash trays), I took them, and gave them a thorough washing and scrubbing. I told myself I could cover them with washi tape and transform them.

So, when they were clean and dry, I spray painted them. Washi tape is semi-transparent and the original colors and prints on the canisters would have shown through. Solution? White paint.

If you’re going to do this or something similar, remember to cover your work surface with scrap paper before spray painting. Fabric won’t do, as Alex pointed out, because it is porous and once it has reached saturation point, any paint it can no longer absorb will go into the work surface. Since I was going to do my spray painting on the glass-topped garden table which I definitely did not want to ruin, I covered the top with cut-up old brown bags.

It took three coatings to sufficiently hide the canister’s original colors. Note that you have to allow each coating to dry completely before doing the next. The instructions on my can of paint said two to three hours and that was what I followed. Make sure to read the instructions on your can of paint.

When the last coat of paint was dry, I decorated the first canister by winding the washi tape around it horizontally. I used a narrow tape in solid color and a wider one with a floral pattern. I made sure to cover the mouth for a clean look.

I also wound washi tape around the metal rim at the bottom of the canister.

When I was done covering the canister with washi tape, I brushed every surface of washi tape with Mod Podge. It’s a crafter’s glue. Unlike water-based glue, Mod Podge won’t wash out with water. It was Alex who introduced me to the stuff. She used to used it on the jars caps of her smoked bangus spread. But since rebranding, the packaging has been modified and Mod Podge was no longer essential. Lucky me because Mod Podge is a must for a lot of craft projects that I intend to do.

In the photo above, you can see where I had brushed the washi tape with Mod Podge. Not only did it ensure that the washi tape won’t come off, it also gave the decorated canister a glossy finish.

For the second canister, I went for a diagonal design using three different washi tapes—one in solid color, a second with stripes and a third with flowers.