Upcycled Mother´s day present ideas

I used to love making my mum a present for mother’s day and now, being a mum myself, I love receiving a self-made gift. What about you?

In this post I will explain how to make a nice tea candle holder from a tin and a mirror made from a cereal box and an old make-up mirror. For both projects, I recommend the help of an adult, so maybe dad can help or you are lucky like I was and have good neighbours who love to help…

I will start with the tea light holders I made from sweetcorn and pea tins. If you are more interested in the mirror.

Tea light holder

You need:

• a tin (or more)
• flat pliers
• marker
• drill and drill bit for metal size to how big you want the holes (I used a 6mm)
• heat-resistant spray paint

Remove the paper from the tin, then wash it properly with hot soapy water. The hot water will help you to remove the glue as well. If it shouldn´t get all the glue off, use a hair dryer. Use the pliers with some kitchen roll or tissue on the outside of the tin to bend down the sharp edges (if you have, you can use a Dremel instead).

Mark out the design you chose. I used a diamond shape for one, the word “love” with the O in heart shape for the second and a heart before the word “love” for the last.

Once you are happy with the design, carefully drill the holes. Here I strongly recommend the help of an adult! If there is still marker left, wash it off and file off sharp edges if there are some.

Now you can spray the can inside and outside, or just the outside according to the instructions applying 3 coats. On the one with the diamond shape I just painted the outside, first of all to try out the heat resistance of the paint. I like the difference in colour, so I left it without painting the inside…

I have got a child at home, so I tried first, if the can would get hot with a tea light inside and after 10 minutes it was pretty warm already… The next day I went into the paint-warehouse we use and explained that I needed a heat-resistant paint for metal. They recommended me the paint which gets used for car breaks. After spraying my first can, I tried again and even after 1 hour it only got to body temperature!

That´s why I recommend using exactly this product.

Now, let’s get to the:

Mirror designed with a cereal box

You need:

– 1 cereal box

– 1 mirror (I got an old make-up mirror from a charity shop)

– paper-cutter or a ruler and carpet knife

– thicker cardboard (from a parcel); optional

– scissors

– glue gun and glue

– spray paint

First open the cereal box, so you can fold it flat. Cut off the top and bottom parts along the crease and cut the box open along one of the creases on the side to achieve one long piece of cardboard.

Cut stripes of 7 mm thickness using the smaller side. For this either use the cutter or measure and then cut along the ruler with a carpet knife.

You need to cut 18 stripes for the design in the photo.

If you are going to use a make-up mirror, take it apart and choose the side you want to use (normal or magnifying). Use it as a measure to cut out 2 cardboard circles.

Now bend the ends of the stripes you cut inwards to create the heart shape. Apply a drop of glue with the gun on the ends. Once you glued all the hearts, take one of the circles and lay out your design to see how many hearts you need. I used 6 for the first row. Keep in mind when laying them out that you will glue part of the hearts onto the circle later.

Glue the first circle of hearts together, then add the hearts that go upside down into the gaps.

Add the final hearts to complete the “circle”.

Apply glue to the cardboard circles’ edge and place your hearts. Last step here using the glue gun is to attach the other circle to the top.

Let the glue dry a bit before starting to spray paint.

When spray painting the design, try to think that you are using a brush “feathering” instead. Apply short strokes in different angles. Do not keep your finger down for too long or you will get an uneven coat! First go over in one direction in a straight line, stop, then the next line and so on. Then change the angle and repeat. Remember: short strokes!

Let the paint dry according to the instructions and apply at least one more coat using the same method as above. I applied 3.

Before the next step make sure, you have given the paint enough time to dry properly.

Take the mirror and apply plenty of hot glue, then attach it to the front circle.

If you have used harder cardboard, you can attach a hook to the back, otherwise put a hole in the back and strengthen it with glue on hole reinforcements (the ones you use for papers in a folder).

Ready to be hung up!

Have you tried one or both tutorials? Feel free to upload a photo in the comment section or simply send an email.

I am looking forward to seeing your product