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You are here: Home / Home & Garden / How To Transform Empty Canisters Into Charming Vases

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!

How To Transform Empty Canisters Into Charming Vases Using Rolls of Washi tape

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.

Spray paint for crafts projects

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.

Spray paint Piknik canister to recycle into vase

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.

The coats of paint to hide the labels of a Piknik canister being recycled into a flower vase

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.

Mouth of a Piknik canister covered in washi tape to make a vase

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.

Bottom of a Piknik canister covered in washi tape to make a vase

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

Brush Mod Podge over washi tape to keep it in place

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.

How To Transform Empty Canisters Into Charming Vases

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.

Piknik canister upcycled into a green and white vase with washi tape

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.

Published on January 3, 2018 by Connie Veneracion

About Connie Veneracion

We eat fatty red meat (except our older daughter) and skin-on chicken. We love seafood including fat-lined salmon belly. Sounds unhealthy for 2020? Hmmm… My husband and I are in our 50s, and we are not on maintenance meds. Neither have we been diagnosed with any condition often associated with people our age. The secret to aging like wine? Our laid-back life... (more)

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