“Punched Tin” Ornaments from Recycled Canning Jar Lids

Here’s a great way to recycle those single use canning lids after you’ve popped them off your jars of beautiful homemade jelly or tasty home canned beans.  Don’t have canning jar lids?  That’s ok–ask your friends who can (they WILL have some), pick up an new unused box of canning lids at Walmart for under $3, or use the metal lids on the ends of things like frozen juice cans or refrigerator biscuits.

Please note, this is a project that I have created on behalf of Walmart as part of the “Walmart Mom” program.

The process is simple.

1)  Gather your materials: A hammer, some thin nails, your lids, a piece of board you don’t mind filling up with little holes,  spray paint and painters tape. If you don’t have a hammer, go out and buy one–every house needs a hammer!

2)  Create a template. I created a sheet with some  Canning Jar Lid Sized Circles (feel free to click through and print out the PDF) and then I drew some simple shapes in pencil.  After I had the pencil outline I used a marker to create the “dots” where I would be punching holes.  Smaller dots closer together make the outline easier to see on the finished ornament.

3)  I placed a used lid on the board and then used painters tape to secure the paper to the lid at the same time as I was taping the lid down to the board so it wouldn’t shift.  Then I used the hammer and nail to punch holes according to the pattern.  It is far easier to use a longer nail–I started out with a short one that was thin and it made my fingers cramp after a while.  I changed to a longer nail and it was much easier!  Don’t forget to make a larger hole for your ornament hanger to go through!

4)  The lids had various patterns and text already imprinted on them from the manufacturer and then my own writing (that’s how I label my canning jars-I write on the lid with a permanent marker).  To cover all that I gave them a nice coat of Rust-Oleum silver paint (glitter paint, red, green or white would all look lovely too!).  It’s better to do several light layers, and you may have to gently poke some paint out of a few of the holes when you are done.

Then I finished by threading some red embroidery floss through as an ornament hanger.  Of course you could use a thin ribbon or a wire ornament hanger as well.

These ornaments give a lovely, country charm–they’d be perfect on a kitchen themed tree as well.  You can also use them as inexpensive but thoughtful decorations on gift bags or packages.

For a completely different project, use a larger nail to punch bigger holes, then use the lid on top of a mason jar filled with potpourri   or homemade gel air fresheners.

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.