DIY: Recyled Vases with Knitted Wraps

All those lovely spring cut flowers I received for Mother's Day needed a happy home.

So I created these super cute vases. They're made from recycled cans that once contained things like Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Macaroni & Cheese, Bush's baked beans & SpaghettiO's.

Simply take an empty can, wash it out & peel off the label.

Next, knit up a rectangle piece that fits the size of your can.

Don't be intimidated by knitting!

The first thing you'll need to do is tie a slipknot onto your knitting needle to get started, & then cast on your stitches. The number of stitches you cast on will determine how tall or wide your project is. I cast on about 13 stitches for the small cans & I can't remember how many for the bigger can. (In fact, for the big can, I made the knitted piece too tall. Simple fix: I rolled it down after it was all stitched together.)

Clicke HERE for an easy-to-follow video from Stitch 'N Bitch that will show you how to tie a slip knot, cast on stitches, & knit.

Just keep knitting until you have a piece long enough that will wrap around the can. I stretched my knitted pieces quite a bit around the cans so that they'd stay firmly in place without slipping.

Unfortunately I haven't found anything from Stitch 'N Bitch on YouTube that shows how to end your knitted projects, or what is called "binding off" or "casting off". (That first video was so great for beginners to follow along! I was hoping they had more.)

But HERE is a video from the Howcast channel on YouTube that shows how to cast off. (The Howcast channel also has tons of videos showing specific steps for knitting.)

When you're ready to wrap the knitted piece around your can, use a large sewing needle to stitch the two ends together. You're basically just making a tube-top for the can.

 And that's it!

Here's a Vine I made, showing how the wrap is attached...

♥