Introduction: Can Lanterns

About: A very hairy manchild studying illustration whilst playing around with as many different strange and intersting techniques and still trying to have a good time while i am at it (much to my tutors horror). I fi…

Recycle your used drinks cans into potential fire hazards!! A modern take on the paper lantern... now even shinier _

Step 1: Materials Needed

You will need:
Any size or shape of drinks can (Preferably unopened as of yet as we need the flat top to balance the tea light on)
Something to put said contents of can in.
Our friend Mr Stanley the Knife.
Pliers (I find Snub nosed easier of this)

Also needed but not pictured:
A small length of wire ~10cm
A tea light (those lil lights in a metal pot)
Matches

Step 2: May Cause Disorientation.

Turn the can upside down and puncture the domed bottom with the stanley knife. Contents liable to a splode so do this in a sink or a swiming pool, possbly even a bath. Tip the remaining liquid into the cup for you to sup at leisure (it helps if you turn the can rightside up ontop of the cup and make a small hole at the top - that way the liquid can flow away easier.

Step 3: Remove the Top Part

Carefully cut around the dome using the stanley knife so that the middle part falls out. Then use the pliers to bend the sharp edges back in on thenselves so they are flush with the can (it also helps to cut radial lines going to the lip so the metal co-operates better)

Step 4: Just Hanging

Make two holes at opposite ends of the top on the other side of the rim. Loop wire through thease and secure the ends by twisting back on itself. Now you can hang burning doom above people _

Step 5: Cut Lines

Carefully cut lines all the way aound along the length of the can using the stanley knife. I wasnt being particularly neat for this one but to help with uniformity and doing interesting diagonals lay strips of masking tape down the length of the can so that they overlap and one edge is visible (this is the one you are going to cut along). Another aid in your quest for neatness is to use scissors to cut these lines as they leave a relatively straight line with no chewing on the sides.

Step 6: Squeeze!!

Push donw on the top and the bottom of the can so that the strips pop out. (some of them might go inwards but you can pull them out easy enough - or have it as a style feature) All you need to do now is to drop the tealight into the lantern (perhaps securing the base with blu-tack) light her up and hang it somewhere (not with string as its directly above the flame and is a sure sign that things will end in tears or the smell of bacon O_O) To aid in lighting this beast you might want to cut a small hole low down on one of the sides so you can poke a match through to the tea light without risk of burninating your fingers.

Step 7: Other Ideas

Below are some examples of what you can do to make your lantern more interesting. The plain vanilla version is on the right, next to it is a model using diagonal lines (to make them pop out all you do is twist the can slightly). Next to that i decided to play around with changing where the bends in the middle where (not that this can is "right way up" as it was made before i realised that using the top as a base is more stable). The last one has been liberally dribbled in glow in the dark paint (which didnt stick as its wall paint) in an experiment to see if it could charge itself (shich it doesnt as the paint is only on the outside - i was worried it might catch fire if i painted the insides).

Some other ideas i have done (not pictures) have been along the lines of cutting out stencils on the sides of the can but as i had to use a scalpel for this and the blades blunted really quick its hard to go into too much detail - stuff like stars and plantes work well.

Go on, play around with this and see if you can come up with any intresting ideas - send me pics of any you have made as well. I didnt take any night pictures because my digicam doesnt like them O_o.