Tools and supplies
Idea and instructions by Anna-Carin Betzén
These instructions will make a 1/2" (13 mm) tall trash can that is 3/8" (10 mm) in diameter. If your mini people create a lot of trash, resize it to fit their needs.
Tools and supplies
Disposable pie pan or other heavy aluminium foil
Circle template
Ruler
Stylus for embossing
Scissors
Small tweezers
Cyanoacrylate glue
Tacky glue
Mark out a 1/2" by 1-3/16" (13 by 30 mm) rectangle on the foil. Don't cut it out yet.
Using the stylus and ruler, scribe a line inside each long edge of the rectangle, about 1/32" (1 mm) from the edge. Then turn the foil over and scribe short perpendicular lines between the first two lines, spacing them about 1/16" (1.5 mm) apart. Don't run them into the long lines; leave a 1/32" (1 mm) gap in between. On the sketch below, the scribed lines are shown in red.
Mark gluing-tabs along one long and one short side of the can. Cut out. Snip the long
tab into many short ones, as shown in the sketch. Curve the piece so it forms a cylinder and glue closed.
A combination of cyanoacrylate glue and tacky glue worked best for me. Fold in the little snipped tabs. Cut a
3/8" (10 mm) circle from foil and glue on for base.
For handles, fold a strip of foil in half and flatten the creased edge with a fingernail. Cut a 1/32" (1 mm) strip along the crease. Cut a 5/16" (8 mm) length for each handle, and shape like the large handle in the sketch above. Glue onto each side of the can.
Mark a 3/8" (10 mm) circle on the foil. Scribe lines as shown in the sketch.
Trim with scissors about 1/32" to 1/16" (1 to 1.5 mm) outside the marked circle. Now either try to fold this rim and smooth it out (I tried this, but wasn't happy about the results), or snip it into lots of little gluing tabs, and glue a 1/16" (1.5 mm) wide strip around it.
Cut a 1/4" (6 mm) length from the strip of foil you prepared above, shape like the small handle in the sketch and glue on.
© Copyright Anna-Carin Betzén 2004.