Father’s Day - The Idea Room

DIY Soda Can Coasters

Well, Summer is in full swing here now. Kids are home all day and we are enjoying the more relaxed schedules. I am heading out tomorrow to attend the annual MDA Summer Camp I have been involved with for several years. I shared a little bit of my experience with the camp last year here. I have been a volunteer camp counselor (group leader) over a group of kids with Muscular Dystrophy and their volunteer helpers. We basically are there to get them where they need to be and doing what they should be doing while having fun the entire week. I LOVE it! So I am busy getting my family ready for Grandma to come and spend the week with them and watch them while I am at camp! I am hoping to pop in occasionally and share some pictures with you from the camp.

But today I have a new little project for those of you who drink your beverages out of a can or know someone who does. These will also be a great gift idea for Father’s Day…Soda Can Coasters.

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Yes…that is my favorite drink of choice…that I no longer drink…Boo! Getting to old to be drinking my calories! But I can still enjoy looking at it when I place my ice water on my lovely new coasters!

Simply empty out some cans of your choice and rinse them out with water. Then take some tin snips and very carefully cut off the top and bottom of the can. This can be a bit tricky. **But be very careful as these cans are super sharp!!!! I suggest wearing garden gloves while cutting to help give you extra protection. I reenacted these photos because the gloves were not so pretty in the pictures…cause we all know how important that it! Be sure to save as much of the flat part of the side of the can so that you can get a nice size square for your coasters. Then cut down the seam of the can. Most cans will have a definite seam on the side…usually by the ingredient list.

Then I took some Silicone and put a good amount on the back of the square. I then attached them to some simple white tiles that measured 4 by 4 inches. I found them at Home Depot in the tile aisle and I believe they were 16 cents a piece. Flatten and rub the tin square so that it is securely attached. Wipe any excess Silicone off the top of the tile with a damp warm cloth.

Then I set a paper towel on the top of it and laid a pile of books on it and let them dry over night! The next day I took a small paint brush and painted some glossy varnish over the top of it to seal it all off so that the edges would not peel up and to protect the edges from poking or scratching any users of the coasters.

Then simply place some felt pads on the bottom of the coasters to protect your table top from getting scratched!

Aren’t they fun? I think they would be great to have in your TV room or game room.

And did I mention how inexpensive they are to make? Pennies per coaster! Really! And you are recycling with a purpose!

So go ahead and whip some of these bad boys up! One of the perks of this recent project was that I HAD to have one last drink. Really! There were no empty cans to be found! And I enjoyed every last drop. Who knows, I just may HAVE to make a LOT more of these coasters to give to ALL my friends and family!

What do you think? If you were to make some, what aluminum cans would you use?

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June 6, 2011 · Filed under: DIY Tutorials, Father's Day, Food Crafts, Gifts, Home Decor, Teacher Gifts Tagged with

Father’s Day Soda Bottle Covers

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I hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend. Ours started off with a bang…literally. My husband was on his way home from work when he got rear ended at a stop light. He is just fine and his car only has a small amount of damage. So we are feeling grateful. We had some big plans to finally get our flowers and garden planted but we had so much rain that we were unable to get them planted. Hopefully today…I can’t wait and it is already so late in the season that we are running out of time. We did manage to get some swimming and a BBQ in and finally repainted our playroom. We were also able to pay respect to some of our family members who have passed on. I can not believe that summer is here and that Father’s Day is just a couple of weeks away.

I thought it would be fun to come up with another easy little gift item for Dad or for the Father’s in your life. This one is so simple. All you need is to grab a six pack of his favorite beverage and add some of these fun little “cover-ups” to personalize them.

I chose to go with a six pack of Coca-Cola bottles in the 8 fl. oz size, mainly because they were cute and little. And cute is what it is all about right?

I made some white shirts and ties to represent all the hardworking Dads…

Or you can skip the white shirt and just go with a tie.

And I included a “Hawaiian” shirt and sun visor for the Dad’s who like to play…

Pretty simple and fun! And of course, I have provided you with the same patterns that I used for mine. These will fit the smaller bottles as you can see in the pictures. If you would like to use a larger bottle, you can enlarge the printable till they fit the bottle size you would like to use or you can redraw them to fit your needs.

What do you think? Would this be something you think the Father(s) in your life would enjoy?

May 31, 2011 · Filed under: Boys, Father's Day, Free Downloads Tagged with father's day gift ideas, fathers day gifts

Father’s Day Candy Bar Wrapper Printables

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Do you ever need just a small and simple gift to give a special Dad in your life for Father’s Day? Or have a group of kids you teach or work with within your church group that need a small token of appreciation to give their Fathers? I have a group of kids ages 6-7 that I teach on Sundays as part of my church responsibilities. I thought it would be fun for them to give their Dad’s a little present. So I came up with these candy bar wrappers. I am going to print out the blank ones and have them color the ties.

You just need to get some of your favorite candy bars. I used some Hershey’s Symphony Bars in the 4.25 oz size…but I also made a wrapper to fit the smaller regular size Hershey bar (1.55 oz).

All you have to do is print them out and cut around the solid lines. Then fold them onto the candy bar. You can keep on the original wrapper or take it off.