Cool At-Home Project: Soda Pop Can Bracelets

Recycled Bracelets

Now that winter has settled itself over most of the country, you might be looking for some cool at-home projects to pass the time. Or, you might be looking for some easy homemade holiday gifts.

Well, these recycled soda pop can bracelets fit both of these bills.

My friend Ronin (who runs an awesome blog all about shipping container homes) sent me this idea over the weekend. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to share it with all of you. I haven’t tried to make them yet, but you can bet it’s on my “to-do” list this week.

My Best Guess For Making These Recycled Bracelets

Ok, bear with me here. I don’t have exact “instructions” for making these cool recycled soda can bracelets. But, Ronin did share some useful tips for making them, so here goes!

First, soda cans can be cut easily with scissors but the edges are sharp, so be careful!

Rolling the Edges…

There are several different ways to deal with the sharp edges once you have the basic shape cut out.

• The most basic thing to do is simply roll them inward. Again, I haven’t made these yet so I don’t know how hard this is. But aluminum is pretty pliable so I don’t think it’d be that difficult.

• You can buy heat shrink tubing at most craft supply stores. These come in a variety of colors and, once heat is applies, will shrink on the edges. This would not only protect your skin but also give the bracelet a cool effect if you picked a contrasting color.

• You can also buy thin  rubber tubing to handle the edges. Simply cut a slit in the tubing and carefully slide it down both sides of the bracelets. A few drops of superglue along the way will keep it in place.

Options…

These bracelets would make great gifts once you get the hang of making them. And with all the cool cans out right now, this would be a great way to recycle/repurpose some of them!

Think of those cool Arizona green tea cans, with the cherry blossoms! That’s definitely the one I’m trying first.

If you decide to roll the edges inward you could also play around with kinking the metal. I Googled “recycled soda can bracelets” and found some stores that had done this (theirs, of course, were selling for $39!). Anyway, the effect was really cool looking.

Last Word…

I’ll definitely upload some pictures as soon as I get my first bracelets made. Have any of you ever done anything like this? If so, do you have any tips or design ideas to share? I’d love to hear them!