Today’s tutorial is perfect for cleaning up those messy craft desks that some of you us have! Elsie Marley shares with us how to repurpose a tin can by dressing it up to hold pencils, scissors, paintbrushes, wisks — or anything else scattered across your work station. The end result will look like this:

Materials needed:

» 28 oz. tin can*
» linen, or other fabric
» lining fabric
» embroidery floss
» glue (Elsie used rubber cement, but plain white glue should do just fine)
» iron
» template for the embroidered design — CLICK HERE to download the template with 8 different designs to choose from, including the wisk pictured above [PDF]

*If you have a different size can, just measure the height and circumference, add seam allowances, and the rest is the same.

Let’s get started!

Step 1
Wash your tin can and take off the paper.

Step 2
Cut two 13″ x 4.75″ rectangles – one from linen and one from the lining fabric.

Cut one 13″ x 1.5″ strip of linen.

Step 3
Embroider the design of your choice on the large rectangle of linen (or leave it plain if you like).

Step 4
Place the two large rectangles together, right sides facing, and sew around using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Leave a 2″ opening in the middle of one of the short sides for turning out. Clip the corners.

Step 5
Turn right side out and press.
Sew the opening closed.

Step 6
Fold the strip of linen in half the long way and press.
Along one side, cut slits (approximately every 1/2″) almost up to the fold.

Step 7
Glue the unclipped side to the inside of the tin can, then glue the outside.

Step 8
Wrap the finished piece around the can and sew shut (if you don’t like your stitches to show, you can use an invisible stitch).

Step 9
Fill with goodies and enjoy!

We’d love to see your finished utensil cup! Upload your photos to The craftershock Flickr Group!