My colored pencil collection has outgrown its humble home.  I knew it would happen.  One solitary can that used to hold diced tomatoes simply cannot contain all the colored pencils I want to possess.

To give myself an attractive new way to store my art supplies, I first switched from a can of tomatoes to many cans of cannellini.

01 Raw Materials

If I could have made them do the can-can, I would have, but cannellini beans are notoriously uncoordinated.

I picked up the spinny device, meanwhile, at Goodwill.

02 Bottom of the Spinny

If your Goodwill doesn’t have spinny devices, you can order a Lazy Susan Bearing online for about a dollar more.  (Go cheap.  You don’t need this bearing to hold a lot of weight.)

From there, it’s really just a matter of stripping and cleaning the cans, then drilling holes to bolt the cans in place.

04 Holes Drilled

I was a little proud that I didn’t make myself measure for these holes. For once, I just eyeballed it.

07 Bolts Sticking Out

I had 3/4″ bolts, or I had 2 1/2″ bolts. Thank goodness for bolt cutters!

08 Gesso

Of course, the problem with bolt cutters is that they can alter the direction of thread, making it impossible to remove the nuts from the bolts. So. I had to gesso these bleeping cans just like this, instead of separately, as I’d planned.  LESSON.  LEARNED.

Now it’s time to pretty up the cans, but that’s where I have to leave for the week.  I stayed up very late drawing new “labels,” and this morning, I didn’t love them.  If we’re going to log the hours, we want to love the results, right?  Next week, I’ll be back to show you the pretty parts, and with any luck, we an all love them together!

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ann

Ann D'Angelo is a dedicated drinker of diet Coke who has never spotted a thrift store she didn't want to visit or an item she didn't want to alter. Check out Ann's shop.

4 Comments

Melissa · July 5, 2015 at 12:47 pm

On a lazy suzie…great idea! Can't wait for part two.

Ruth Hinman · July 15, 2015 at 2:50 pm

Ann… you wonderful woman! I learned many things, not the least of which is that I need to pay attention to the length of bolts I get. 😀 Thank you for this. I’m watching for more. Sarah is inspiring me to let my freak go and you are inspiring me to pick up the tools I fear might hurt me and go for the big results. Patiently awaiting your next post.

Ruth · August 2, 2015 at 4:58 pm

I am in need of your expert advice, my wise and wonderful guru of all things maniacally needful.

I have purchased a small bearing, I also have the wood and the cups I plan to use. I have a drill and am relatively certain that i can manage to drill the cups without ruination happening.

The bearing attaches to the wood in a very… ummm… frustratingly close space. By this I mean that the heads of regular screws are likely to meet and will break the spinny spinny action. Have you ever used a bought bearing and it's easier than it looks to me and am I just being a weenie because I've never done it?

    AnnDAngelo · August 2, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    Hi Ruth! I am going to send you an email so I can attach a picture.

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