Re-purposing formula cans into centerpieces

After nursing for 8 months straight our little guy up and  refused to nurse anymore so we have entered back into the world of formula. I can't help but think every time we finish a can that there is something more I could do with it than put it in the trash. When Nathan was a baby I made noise makers out of his formula cans but I wanted to do something more decorative this time around. So I searched around for a little bit of inspiration and found some at deWolde Daily and ISLY. Combining these two ideas I came up with a cute spring looking centerpiece. Those flowers may not be blooming outside yet but I sure can pretend spring is around the corner inside my house!

Here's what you need:

* Formula can (or other food/coffee can)
* Paper - I used wrapping paper but wallpaper, construction, scrapbook paper would work as well
* Mod Podge (or glue or tape)
* Wooden skewers
* Ribbon
* ruler
* scissors
* hot glue
* buttons

Ready to get started? Let me loosely walk you through it:

1. Remove label from can and clean out the inside.

2. Measure can and cut paper to match:

3. Stick paper to can using your preferred method. Let me say that Mod Podge on wrapping paper didn't work out as well as I hoped. It wasn't a totally smooth finished project. So a little tape or dab of hot glue on the ends might work best:

4. Now for the flowers, I didn't do a step by step so check out deWolde Daily for detailed instructions. I will say that I used a skewer instead of pipe cleaner and ribbon instead of paper. I didn't have to punch holes ahead of time because the pointy end of the skewer went right through the ribbon. I used hot glue to attach the button to the top of the flower (I still need to cut the little points off, I was waiting for them to dry completely):

5. Now you could stop here and plop them in the can but my can was pretty tall and I didn't want them resting against the edge so I used the empty ribbon spools, stacked them on top of each other and poked the skewer through the paper to create a stand:

6. Place the flowers and make shift stand into the can and you have a lovely centerpiece! I am planning to probably add 2 more flowers but I am trying to use only items I have on hand so I need to dig around for some more ribbon:

Don't be surprised if formula cans make several appearances in future craft projects...we've got a few more months of formula to go and I like to use what I've got!