Recycled Cat Food Can

I've often been inspired by our neighborhood cats, so I was excited to be able to help out my neighbors this week by feeding their sweet felines. The first time I fed them I knew I just had to alter one of the cute little cans!

I used cat food packaging for this entire project, from the can & lid for the box, to the outer cardboard for the book pages. Everything is covered with paper or ribbon, except for the outer parts of the can lid (because any embellishment on those parts impedes the opening of this fun box, which I know from experience.)

My husband figured out how to flatten the can's interior edge, using a spoon & a can opener. I covered the inside with a burlap ribbon that I bought at a rummage sale at the church across the street.

I made the paw-print pattern using the Catty font by Anke-Art. I converted two of the letters into cut files in SCAL and made the round frame for the front. It was cut from the same woodgrain-patterned paper I used throughout this project. I printed the "2015" in brown on a textured yellow paper using the same font. I think it look a bit like a flower! To finish the cap, I simply wrapped the top side with a green ribbon.

The cat cut file is from the My Family set by Bird. The cats are cut from textured papers to represent the colors of the featured felines.

The pages are bound with an orange ribbon. I wrapped more ribbon around the book, adhering it only to the front so that it easily unwraps. To secure it, I used a tiny key charm from Cousin/Designs By Me.

I had so much fun making this, and I got the best hugs from my neighbor when I gifted this to her!

Challenges/Inspiration:
2 Creative Chicks Challenge #25: "Anything Goes" (No Cards)
All Crafts Challenge: Anything But a Card
Open-Minded Challenge #34: Recycle (2nd entry)
Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re-Invent April Challenge: Recycle
That Craft Place: Alter Something

Update: This received an Honorable Mention for the Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re-Invent April Challenge.

Thank you for visiting & for inspiring my crafting,

March Madness Blog Hop Day #2

It's the second day of Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack's Mad About Paper Blog Hop!

Here's my Day Two project: Soccer Kick Off Gift Box with penny slider top

You should have arrived here from JoAnn's blog. Tammy's blog is the next one on the line up and you can reach her blog by clicking on her name below. If you have problems with the link, her blog's URL is in parentheses after her name -- just copy/paste it into your address bar. (And if you didn't see yesterday's projects, be sure to check those out too.)

Stampin' Dymonz (www.StampinDymonz.com)

Lynetta (CraftyNetta) (craftcreationsbynetta.blogspot.com)

Cynta (cynta.blogspot.com)

Jessica (customcreationsbyjessica.blogspot.com)

JoAnn (thecreatorsworkshop.blogspot.com)

Christina (cg-says.blogspot.com) <---you data-blogger-escaped-are="" data-blogger-escaped-b="" data-blogger-escaped-here="">

Tammy (fromme2upapercrafting.blogspot.com)

NikkiP (nikkimopapercrafts.blogspot.com)
Thank you for hopping!

About the Gift Box:
I had so much fun making yesterday's project that I starting obsessing on what to make for my second project... Well, luckily Mom called me and told me about her new project: penny slider cards (also called spinner cards). Since I wanted to stick with a sports theme, I immediately imagined moving a ball across the paper, maybe making a little loop...

This was also a perfect opportunity to use the Smirk brand paper in my stash. Their For Him series includes some soccer-themed items, and the soccer ball brad fit over the penny perfectly!

I wish I could say that I drew the loop myself, but I had to design a template for it in SCAL first. I ended up manipulating the Latin Small Letter A from the Wingdings typeface. What can I say, it worked perfectly. I cut the template on my Cricut, traced it onto the decorative paper, and then cut it out with my knife. If you'd like to try this yourself (and you have SCAL), see the download link at the bottom of this post. Please let me know if you use it!

I wanted to put something in the box, so I decided to wrap some Hershey's Milk Chocolate Nuggets with the patterned paper. Well, we only had two left, but get the idea!

Decorative paper and brads: Smirk for Him
Other supplies: Core'dinations and Hammermill cardstocks, ZipDry glue, Tim Holtz scissors, Cricut & SCAL, HP copier & ink, Fiskars papercutter & finger knife, foam tape, Copic markers (100 & R59, for edging)

Slider card tutorial at Splitcoaststampers
Download penny slider loop template SCAL cut file