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There is nothing quite so fun to me as rescuing items from the recycle bin and giving them new life – ” IT”S ALIIIIVE!!!” These cute and terribly fun Frankenstein Upcycled Tin Cans were no exception.  They are the perfect inexpensive party decor or porch decoration. Made mostly from items around the house, you can use whatever you have on hand to add the details to your set.  Whether you use them to decorate inside or out for Halloween, they are sure to scare a smile onto everyone’s face and set the mood for a monstrous night!  Make one or make a dozen since this craft is practically free and takes very little time to build – you won’t even need your assistant Igor for this project!

FRANKENSTEIN UPCYCLED TIN CANS

Supplies Needed:

Tin Cans various sizes

Googly Eyes

Paint Marker

Green Spray Paint

Black Spray Paint

Wine Corks

Painters Tape

Hot Glue Gun/sticks

Directions:

Clean and dry cans well, if edges are sharp smooth by using needle nose pliers and sandpaper.

Take cans to well ventilated area (like outside) spray with one light coat of green paint, allow to dry for 5 minutes.

Apply another 1-2 coats until sufficiently covered. Let final coat dry for an hour minimum.

Cut one edge of painters tape randomly-to resemble Frankensteins flat top, wrap around can about 1/2″ down, press firmly into can to get a clean paint line. Cover the rest of can below tape with paper.

Spray top of can with black paint- 1-2 coats, drying between each. Dry for 20 minutes.

Remove painters tape and  draw on scars and stitched mouth with paint pen.

Hot glue on googly eyes and “bolts”- you can use wine corks, or actual bolts or screws, buttons, or even thread spools.

Set your Frankensteins outside on the porch, on the window sill, or on your kitchen table.  They are really too cute to be scary and the kids will enjoy them.

We love these fun and easy Frankenstein Upcycled Tin Cans!  Not only are they frugal and fun, they are doing our part toward recycling and not creating waste.  While we can recycle aluminium cans easily, tin cans from vegetables, soups and stews are much harder to avoid throwing away.  Fun upcycled projects like this are a great way to reuse those cans, leftover paint from other projects, wine corks or rusty bolts and nuts from various household projects.

Make sure to practice safety when doing any project with spray paint.  Wear a mask and paint in a well ventilated area.  While other parts of this project can be done with kids, we recommend doing the paining yourself if choosing an aerosol spray paint.

Don’t miss out on all of our great Fall Upcycle & DIY Crafts!

DIY Fall Burlap Pillow

Kids Fall Thumbprint Leaves Craft

Pumpkin Spice Body Scrub

Using End Of Season Flowers For Dried Flower Arrangements

DIY Denver Broncos Upcycled T-Shirt Scarf

>>> You know what comes after Halloween…Thanksgiving and Christmas! If you’re family’s like mine, then it’s ALL about the food.

Then it’s a great time to read up on how not to put on that holiday weight:

www.youbrewmytea.com/tips-for-weight-watchers-online-success/

Dressing up your fall table doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money.  You can add a warm and cozy feeling to your table setting for your guests using things you have around the house already.  An empty toilet paper roll ( you get 2 rings out of each one), an old  flannel shirt, and some sisal rope.  This Upcycled Fall Flannel Napkin Ring is low cost, simple and perfect for a classic Fall table setting. I love how country and casual they look while still dressing up my plain old napkins. I made these for our Thanksgiving meal but they  can be left out the entire fall season to give your table a finished look.

UPCYCLED FALL FLANNEL NAPKIN RING

Supplies Needed:

Toilet Paper Rolls (1 for every 2 you want to make)

Flannel Shirt or Pajama Pants

Sisal rope

Scissors

Hot glue gun/sticks

Ruler

Optional : spray adhesive

Directions:

Cut toilet paper roll in half, set aside.

Cut rectangles from your flannel to 4″ x 5 1/2″.

Center half paper roll on flannel, wrap around and tuck in securing with glue. You can use hot glue to adhere the flannel and roll but it will leave some ridges. If you have a can of adhesive spray on hand spray the roll and the inside of the flannel well and wrap. Then tuck ends inside the roll.

Wrap center of napkin ring in sisal or other natural rope and secure ends down with a little hot glue.

Once all the glue has dried (you only need a few minutes) slip over cloth or even disposable napkins.

These are so simple to put together!  Grab your kids and make these Upcycled Fall Flannel Napkin Rings for your Thanksgiving table.  You can even make small cards with each guest name on them to attach to the ribbon making them truly personalized for your guests!  I love how simple this is, and how it uses up scrap bits of crafting fabric and rope or twine.

Don’t miss out on our other great DIY Fall Crafts!

Merry Fall Door Hanger

Kids Fall Thumbprint Craft

DIY Fall Burlap Pillow

This adorable and easy Upcycled Jar Lid Pumpkin Patch Wreath is the epitome of fall to me!  Fall for me equals things like pumpkin, flannel, and natural elements to decorate the home, this project allowed me to indulge in all three!  I am also big on upcycling so I try to incorporate found items around the home as much as possible in all my craft projects, I was able to use some slightly rusted mason jar lids and a big scrap piece of flannel fabric from my stash so it made it very frugal as well.  Grab a few items from around the house and a wreath form from the Dollar Tree to put together this fun and simple fall decoration.

Upcycled Jar Lid Pumpkin Patch Wreath

This post may contain affiliate links.

Supplies Needed:

• foam wreath form (got mine from Dollar Tree)
• 3 mason jar lids
• orange paint
• flannel fabric -36″x 6″
• twine
• small twigs
• Hot glue/glue sticks

Directions:

Wrap flannel around wreath form, securing with hot glue- be sure to not touch the metal tip of the glue gun to the foam it will melt away, keep raw edges to the back side of your wreath when possible. You can also use a spray adhesive to attach fabric to wreath.

Take mason jar lids outdoors to well ventilated spot and spray well with 2-3 coats of  orange paint, allow to dry thoroughly.

Glue the backside of  jar lids to flannel covered wreath. You can do as few or as many as you like- put one on for each member of your family, or create a full patch all the way around. You could even personalize them with a sharpie if you want. To make them look a little more like real pumpkins hot glue a small piece of twig to the top for a stem.

Wrap twine around top 4-5 times, leaving the loops loose for hanging.

I love the plain and simple look of this upcycled jar lid pumpkin patch wreath, but you can get as creative as you like and add any fall embellishments you have on hand- wheat, silk leaves, acorns, etc.  You are only limited by your imagination.

This is a great craft to make with your kids, as well as to give as gifts to your friends, family or even school teachers.  We love inexpensive crafts, and especially things that can upcycle what we already have on hand.  Wearing flannel in the winter months is common for many, so an old flannel shirt can quickly be turned into a fun project like this.  You could also use something like corduroy, burlap or simply any fall colored fabric.

We love these other super easy and fun fall themed crafts that are great for giving your home an all new and beautiful look for the season!

Dryer Vent Fall Pumpkin

Upcycled Fall Flannel Napkin Ring

Merry Fall Door Hanger

DIY Fall Burlap Pillow

Upcycle craft projects are the best, not only are they FREE but you are teaching your children to be a little kinder to our world, as well ask making do and using up what you already have. Milk cartons are great for this because they can be used in so many ways like our Fairy or Gnome Home HERE . The kids and I thought this old carton would make a great bird feeder since we also enjoy treating our special feathered friends. Make your own Upcycled Milk Carton Bird Feeder.

Supplies Needed:

an empty, clean,dry milk carton

paint(spray or acrylic

sturdy string or rope

embellishments -such as washi tape, buttons, sticks,

paint pens, or stickers.

glue

single hole punch

bird food

Directions:

Wash your carton thoroughly inside and out, I add a cap of bleach to some water inside, replace the cap and swish it around well for a couple minutes to kill any bacteria inside. Then rinse the inside and outside well.

To help the paint adhere better wipe down the outside with alcohol to remove oils, and fingerprints.

I recommend cutting out the food windows after you paint so the inside stays clean and paint does not flake off into the food. Take your carton outside in a well ventilated area, place on paper and lightly spray with the first tack coat, allow to dry for 5 minutes. Repeat 2-3 more times until well covered. After final coat allow to dry for 2 hours. You can also let the kiddo’s paint by hand with acrylic craft paint- I have found the spray paint covers better.

Once completely dry the real fun can begin, pull out tons of embellishments from your craft stash or let them collect items from the yard like leaves, sticks, pinecones, etc.

First, cut out 2 generous openings on opposite sides with a sharp knife or scissors. This will serve as the birds perch and serving window.

Now, this next step I didn’t do in the right order so, learn from my mistake. Cut a hole in the top of your carton using a single hole punch , or you can poke through with a knife. Do this step before covering your “roof” or you will have to remove and replace some of your decorations.

Next let imagination take over and add any embellishments you wish to create your bird feeder- make it fit into the nature around it in your yard, create a French bakery, fast food drive through, or let them freestyle it with whatever they want.

Run a sturdy piece of twine or rope through the hole up top for a hanger, fill you feeder with bird seed and hange from a solid branch. 

This project is one that brings double pleasure, once while you make it and again watching all the sweet visitors that will flock to your yard to feast!  Not only are we upcycling and making a milk carton bird feeder that is much needed in our yard, we are creating a fun backyard project that will bring joy every day.  The chance to watch birds eat from the feeder will be a great way to teach your kids all about the different birds in your area and their habits.

Check out some of our other favorite kids activities & upcycle crafts!

Upcycled Milk Carton Fairy Garden Gnome Home

Upcycled Jelly Jar Votive Holder

Upcycled Flannel Napkin Ring

We love upcycling things that would typically be trash, and this Upcycled Milk Carton Gnome or Fairy Garden Home was a great project for the kids.  The kids and I love buying cute little pieces for our gnome and fairy gardens but they can start to become costly so sometimes we turn to our craft stash, backyard, and recycling bin to create new features.  This cute little “Gnome Home” my son and I crafted from an old almond milk carton, and some treasures from our yard was tons of fun and very inexpensive.  This is perfect for an afternoon project to occupy your kids this summer!

Upcycled Milk Carton Gnome Or Fairy Garden Home

So, if you have an itch to create a welcoming abode in your garden for gnomes or fairies then grab some supplies and let’s get started, this project cost me nothing as I had everything on hand- gotta love free!

You will need: 

A clean, empty milk carton

spray or acrylic paint

sharp serrated knife or straight edge razor

hot glue gun/sticks

collected yard treasures- leaves, pine cones, acorns, bark, pebbles, etc. or craft items from your stash!

Here we go:

Wash your carton well inside and out, I like to swish a little bleach and water inside to clean it.

Dry completely.

Cut carton in half or how tall you like it to be, take your carton outside and place on newspaper or similar.

Spray well with a light coat of spray paint, you can also paint by hand with acrylic paint and a brush, we were aiming for quick, allow to dry for 5 minutes, continue adding coats until well covered.

Allow to dry for 1 hour after final coat.

You can use found items in the home like buttons, ribbons,  paint pens,  glass beads, pony beads, string, stickers, or anything else on hand. We took a basket outside and hunted for treasures in the yard so it would have more of a natural look.

My son found this hunk of tree bark and declared it a perfect door.

Next I added a generous amount of hot glue to a portion of the roof and let him add sticks holding them by the tips to  be safe, he never even had to touch it.

We thought the spout looked like a chimney but needed a little help so again I used the glue gun  and he placed small smooth stones to build it up (these were actually purchased by the bag at Dollar Tree for our sensory bins) .

Let your child add whatever decorations they like, or keep it simple.

Trim off excess hot glue strings.

If using it outdoors I would recommend a coat or two of clear sealer to help it last.

This upcycled milk carton garden gnome or fairy garden home is a great afternoon project for your kids this summer.  Not only will they be excited to make something themselves, they can quickly and easily make it truly unique to their personality.   We love the idea of building a creative and imaginative miniature home for pretend play.  This is not only a great way for your kids to spend their time this summer, it can be an excellent way to build their imagination.

Check out some of our other favorite projects for kids!

25 Outdoor Crafts & Activities For Kids

DIY Felt Playmat

Upcycled T-Shirt Super Hero Cape