Things you can make with a Tin Can

     This photo came from a screen shot I captured from That 70s Show.  These painted cans hung on the back porch for the entire length of the show's run on television.  Mostly, I ignored them because it was SOOOO 70s and my sister made something similar for our yard....in the 70s!      Basically, it is a spam can, a 3 inch plant pot and different size ham cans with a wood ball and an eye screw to hang it from.  
She also used cans as curlers. 

     This is can art and there are thousands of examples of things you can make for the sake of 'art' from cans on the web.  From soda can spinners to tin men to guard the yard, you can find photos of anything in a Google image search!  

     For my purpose in this blog, I would like to take making things from cans back to the prepper.  
     These spinners are good just as they are as scarecrows in the garden.  If you make a tin man with a free moving armature, wiring the arms  with a little slack and hanging it, it too can make a scarecrow as long as it moves and clanks.  

     For the bare bones prepper, a can is an organizing device, a storage device, a source of metal to cut, shape and secure into other shapes.  

     However, for the home crafter, you can't say "make from a tin can" without posting pictures of an illumination. 

     Crafters know to either fill the can halfway with water and freeze it before punching holes into the can, or keep it's shape by shoving a piece of wood scrap in the can before punching.  

survivial-training.wonderhowto.com

     Cans are great to use to melt things you don't want ruining your good pots and pans, like wax or tar or anything you don't eat that needs heating.  
     You can make a nasty shive from a can.  Other cutting tools and knives can be forged with a good cutting tool and a tin can.  Right now, tin can material is quaint or crafty, but a knowledge of using and some experience in making without cutting yourself, can help in the future should raw materials become hard to get.

     If you have never considered making anything from a can, go to this site and take a starter course.

recycledcrafts.craftgossip.com 

     Maybe, you don't think you need toys, but starting with a small project, that employs several skills like cutting, fitting, painting, is a good skill building exercise with the reward of a finished product in less than an afternoon.

www.thecraftyblogstalker.com

     To illustrate my point of the rewards from a small project, check out this site that will show you candles, organizers and even a small guitar from an Altoids can.

 This site shows how to boost your wi-fi, a project I will try in September (family trip coming up!).Build a Cheap Wi-Fi Signal Booster Out of a Tin Can
lifehacker.com  
        

www.bushcraftstuff.com 

     I have posted this earlier on this blog under Camp Stove and Grills.

     When we all run out of aluminum foil and want to bake potatoes  you can put the potato in a can that the lid is still attached to, bend the lid shut and leave at the edge of your fire's coals to bake.

How to Make a Survival Kit in a Tin Can: 12 Steps (with Pictures)www.wikihow.com 

Cans are good to keep, if you keep them clean. There's no sense in ever attracting bugs to the home front.

     Store some with prep items in them, and when the time comes, when you are short of raw materials, use them to build a better world.

Parabolic Blackberries! Tin cans! Heat! | Sparks and Ashessparksandashes.com