Birthday Party Can Favors

All I can say about the last week is: "Wow" and "It was all worth it!" My son, John-David, turned one year old this last week and we threw a big party with lots of family and friends coming from out of town to stay.

There was lots of food and cold drinks for everyone to eat outside. Everything would have gone wonderfully if the weather didn't decide to be 104 degrees and make all my guests sweat. I almost broke into tears thinking all my pictures I had planned in my head were going to be ruined, the food was melting....but everyone said they had a wonderful time! And that is what really matters.

I wanted to post a few of the things I made for John-David's party. So let's start with the party favor cans...

I am sort of a recycling nut (not a hoarder, but I do re-use items if I can). I saved almost every formula can we bought this past year (3 garbage bags full for those who are thinking back to how many formula cans they used for their babies). I KNOW those cans are good for something. I have a few around my house for paint or cleaning. F.Y.I. they hold water really well.

I wanted the party favors to be useful and memorable ( I hate waste), and these were perfect. I went to Michael's Crafts and bought or had around the house already:

• 5 color pack of card stock paper in the colors of the party.
• A circle punch.
• 3M Multi-Purpose spray Adhesive
• A bottle of Elmer's glue
• Small Formula Cans (12.9 oz)
• Scissors
• Ruler

Take a formula can and strip off the label, I kept the lids for some other project and threw away the scoops. Wipe the inside clean.


Take a piece of card stock and wrap around the can just under the silver lining. Make two small marks inside the lining otherwise the paper won't look right. Lay the paper flat and using a ruler draw a line, mark to mark and cut.

It should look something like this. But notice the big gaping hole? Just measure a small bit of the remaining paper to fill that in. This is a good time to use your cut paper as a template for however many cans you are going to decorate. Please ignore the uneven cutting I made on this example can. I forgot to take pictures while I was making them originally.

Spray the card stock lightly to make it tacky, on the side you see the cut marks on, and immediately apply to the can. Do the same for the filler piece or just use Elmer's glue.

Cut out your dots in different colors and glue all over. You can use dots of different sizes to make it look silly and fun. Or cut the punched out circles into spirals?

I had two "rules,"the can couldn't have dots the same color as the background color and at least 2 dots had to be cut and glued on to it so it looked as if they were continuing off the edges. I used between 11-14 dots per can.

The party cans I had are filled with yellow Easter grass, candy (the good kind!), homemade chocolate covered Oreo's, squirt guns, noise makers, and magic straws!

When all the goodies are gone, these cans can be used for other purposes in the home and our guests will always remember the fun they had.