One of the reasons I’m still buying canned food (even I’m canning my own vegetables and fruits), is that I get what I need for projects like this one.  

I have a lot of tin cans in different sizes, and the only thing that prevents me from reusing them is not being able to craft at the same time all the projects I’m thinking about.

This is the simplest organizer you can build for free, and it’s the perfect tool even for a creative mind that never gets along with keeping things in order, namely me.

What You Need

Let’s start with what you need for this DIY project:

• Tin cans  (reclaimed)
• Wood board  (reclaimed)
• One washer and one screw for each tin can
• Spray paint
• A hammer and a nail

How to Make It

Prepare the tin cans for this project by perfectly cleaning them and washing off the labels. If those nasty sticky label won’t go off, use a bit of WD40 spray and you will get rid of them in an instance. The edge was smooth enough to use the tin cans without the danger of harming myself, but not all the tin cans look the same. In case you need to dull down the sharp edge inside, here’s a tip I found out on Hometalk: run twice a hand held can opener, and the edge will get smooth.

Also, get a piece of wood long enough for placing the cans in the line of the top of it. Choose a nice spray paint in your favorite color. I had a copper one, and also some spray varnish for the final coat.

Use a hammer and a nail to make a hole right in the middle of the bottom of each tin can, as you see in the picture below.  A helping hand is welcome anytime, especially for this easy project. This is how you get extra time for taking pictures.

Don’t be fooled by the pink photobombing creature appearing near the hammer, I assure you that no pig has been harmed during this photo shooting.

Paint the piece of wood, then spray paint all the tin cans for a neat look of the organizer. When the paint has completely dried, fix the cans on the piece of wood with a washer and a screw for each hole.

This is it! I told you this is the simplest organizer one can build!

You can take this project one step further and apply labels on each tin can, draw on them or even write your name on them. Then you can use it for colored pencils (as I did) or for organizing small things on your desk.

Is there any other use you can give this easy to do organizer? Share your ideas in the comment form below!

This projects has been featured on Hometalk.