I decided to do some recycling over the weekend, primitive style, using a tin can that I saved when I made spaghetti the other day. I knew I wanted to grungy it up and after some thinking, I decided it would make a great Grungy Rusty Tin Luminary!
Now most of the time when I grungy something, I'm using melted paraffin wax and ground spices. But that can be a lot of work. So when I want a quick grungy fix, I use spray paint instead. More specifically, I use Rustoleum Multicolored Texture spray paint, which gives almost exactly the same effect, without the extra work. I bought mine at Wal Mart, but you should be able to find it at almost any hardware store.
So to make my luminary, the first thing I did was wash the can well. I picked a can with a white lining, since white helps to reflect light. Also, my can opener doesn't create a sharp lip at the top of the can, but if yours does, be sure to flatten that down with a pair of pliers or something so you don't cut yourself. Once the can was clean and dry then I spray painted with my texture paint. I let the first coat dry and then repeated this two more times.
The next step was to create the holes around the top edge of the can. I was going to use my Crop-O-Dile for this, since it works well on light metals. But I have the tabletop version and I couldn't get the can far enough back to get the holes where I wanted. So I just used my regular paper hole punch, and it worked! I punched holes at even intervals all around the top edge of the can.
Next, I cut a piece of burlap to wrap around the center of the can. I love the texture of burlap sometimes, and I think it stands out well against the rusty look of the can. Then I added a strip of burgundy homespun. And I finished it off with a primitive rusty tin heart.
For the light, I used what I had on hand, which is a glass votive cup with a battery operated tealight inside. I think a battery operated votive would work better, due to the height of the can. It would put out more light that way. So I'll get one of those at some point for this can. But for now it's just the tealight...and this is how it looks lit.
