Turn An Old Soda Can Into A Stylish Sun Ornament For Your Yard

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According to some experts, approximately 36 billion aluminum cans went in the trash last year. Not only is it a waste of valuable metal that could be recycled, but there are also lots of great ways you can repurpose soda cans around the home and yard. Over on Instagram, Alexis Berger has a clever project to create a stylish sun ornament. It's surprisingly easy to do with just a few basic tools that many DIYers and crafters will already own.

Soda cans are relatively thin, so it takes little effort to cut them open and unbend them so you have a fairly flat sheet. It doesn't need to be perfect. Metal snips (also called tin snips) are one of the tools and supplies every DIYer should own and make the job a breeze. Strong scissors will also work. Be careful, because the cut edges can be sharp. You might want to dull them with fine sandpaper (300-grit or higher).

Berger colors the aluminum by holding it briefly over an open flame, so you'll need something like barbecue tongs for a safe grip. Have a bowl of water handy to drop it into when you get the required tone. It's probably best to do this outdoors, as scorching the print on the outside of the can might release unpleasant fumes.

Do a quick search for 'vintage sun images' and find a graphic you like. Resize it to suit your soda can sheet and tape it in place. You need to press down on the image to emboss the lines into the metal. The Coyaho Tracing Stylus Set is ideal, comes with 5 different sized tips, and costs just $5.99. Other tools could work, but avoid anything sharp that will simply tear through the paper.

After you have the basic lines in place, you can remove the paper and freehand the detail, changing stylus size or applying more pressure to create greater depth. Work carefully so you don't break through the thin aluminum sheet. Once you are happy with the face, cut out eight flame shapes and emboss them with wavy lines.

Turn the pieces face down and use hot glue to assemble the finished sun ornament. You could drill a small hole in one of the flames to hang it up. You might want to create a silver sun as well, using the same technique but without heat, or perhaps a matching moon. There are also a number of ways you can reuse soda can tabs so they don't go to waste either.