Take 8: Bundled Up Cans

I have to say, one of my absolute favorite things in the WORLD is when my little guy states:  "Mommy, I want to do a Craf.  Let's do a craf, k?"  

When he requested last week, I happily obliged.  And now you will reap the benefits of kiddie craft time with this super cinchy tutorial.

You'll need:
Yarn (lots of options for those picky pre-schoolers)
Canisters of some sort.  I used an old formula can that I spray painted and a Cornmeal can left as is (which is NOT pictured)
Spray adhesive
Scissors (not pictured)
Clear spray paint (not pictured)
A preschooler or toddler (not pictured)


Huh.  Makes you wonder why I bothered to take a picture at all, right?

So, I suppose if you don't have a toddler readily available for this project, you could just do it yourself.


Okay.  Ready for easy shmeezy?


Lay down lots of protective paper.


Give your canister a thorough spray with the spray adhesive.  
NOTE:  It would be a good idea to stuff the inside with protective paper, as well.  I didn't do that.  Which is fine.  But somewhat sticky.

Have your kiddo pick out the coolest yarn.


Cut a long piece. 


Press the end of the piece onto the outside of the canister.  Let your kiddo wrap,

and wrap,

 and wrap - all willy nilly, however he/she wants to.  From time to time, have him pause so you can press the yarn into the canister - just to be sure it sticks.

Want to know how to keep the other littles entertained during this process?

We also wrapped the un-spray-painted cornmeal container.  With different yarn.  That bug picked out.  


We did have to spray the adhesive on a few more times, right over some of the yarn, to make sure that all of the wrapped layers would stick.  bug thought this was especially "stinky" business - so that was not his favorite part.  I'm sure he would have wanted me to warn you.

You can see here that we wrapped two different ways.  For the painted canister, we wrapped loosely, all willy-nilly, and let the paint show through.  For the UNpainted canister, we wrapped more tightly and thoroughly, so that the "weird guy" with the "hairy face" and the "silly hat" (all bug's descriptors, I might add) did not show through.  (You know the quaker oats man, right?)  (bug was actually sad that we covered him up completely.)

When you're done wrapping and wrapping (or your three yr old has exceeded the length of his attention span), take your canisters outside and give them a coat of clear spray paint.


No, this will not completely seal them.  It will not make them impenetrable.  But it will help that yarn stick on there and create a barrier over any tackiness from the spray adhesive.

If you keep the lids, you can store just about anything in there!  Maybe even a cute way to gift wrap?

bug is using his to store his crayons.  As for mine, I have no idea what to put in there, but I kind of love it, which is weird since it's just cardboard and yarn.  It's currently hanging out in my living room, empty.  Any ideas?

Cute and functional.  And now whenever bug colors he'll remember our "craf."

Don't miss Mandy's crochet tutorial today!

*Be sure to check just below for all the fun parties I link to!