Best Kitchen Canisters

Artsy Kitchen Canister Project #3: Ocean Scene

Finding creative ways to use those empty kitchen canisters and containers just got a little easier. We have been discussing creative projects that can turn those ugly empty bottles in to pieces of artwork. In this last article we will cover the most elaborate project yet; creating an ocean scene from one of your old containers.

This one was actually an inspiration from a lotion dispenser I saw at Wal-mart. The idea is to have an ocean scene in a container with little turtles or frogs in it. Since this one has figures in it you want to use a clear container that has a medium opening so you can easily put them in.

Parents, since this is the hardest project you will need to help the kids with this one.

What you will need:

1: Clear container with a secure lid
2: Blue food coloring
3: Small plastic turtles or frogs, you can find these items at a hobby stores
4: Cooking oil
5: Assorted tempera paints and paintbrushes, these can also be found at some hobby stores

Here is the Inspiration

How to Create Your Scene

Fill the container about 1/4 with cooking oil and then put in a few drops of the blue food coloring until the water turns blue. Then place the small plastic turtles or frogs in the container on top of the oil and fill the rest of the container about 3/4 with water. Secure the lid and like the above project you can glue the lid shut if you want.

The final piece is to take the tempera paint and create a seascape on the lower 1/4 of the container so that it looks like the painting is in the ocean. You can use greens, whites, reds, pinks, oranges, blues or purples to create a seascape. Some things that can be found in the ocean are seaweed, starfish, corals, clams or anything else your imagination can come up with. Remember to let the paint dry before you handle the container. Once dry, you can gently rock the container to see the turtles or frogs ride the waves

How nice is it to have something you can show-off and say “I made that.” Art and decorating is all about expressing your unique vision and hopefully these projects stretched that creative muscle just a bit. Feel free to take these suggestions and make them your own and modify them or even combine them. Remember to have fun with it and just go nuts.