Tin Can Pin Cushion Caddy

I needed an updated pin cushion, so I decided to go large and make a tin can pin cushion caddy! Although I don’t actually have a designated sewing or craft room, just yet, one can always dream. I’ve already made a seamstress mini dress form, for said room, so why not forge ahead with a pin cushion caddy?

I’ve had one of those vintage tomato pin cushions, passed down from my mother, and it’s not going anywhere, but I wanted one that had a little punch of modern color.

I was so crazy about the Soup Can Caddy project from Shelley at Sow and Dipity that when I was about to throw away a few empty tin cans from dinner, I stopped myself, remembering her project and how much I wanted one like it.

With the need and desire for a new pin cushion, I made a just a few changes from her’s and thus I had a tin can pin cushion caddy!

I love how Shelley painted her soup cans up to looked all aged and worn and then added the wooden handle. You can follow her directions, here,  for painting the cans and even adding a wooden handle, if you like. I did this one on a whim and didn’t have a wooden handle “handy”, so I improvised by using wire.

Here are the few changes I made:

Painting the cans:

I changed up to colors, using Raw Umber and Light Brown for the base coat. I mixed colors, Pool Blue, Raw Umber and White with a teaspoon of a water and baking soda mixture for the top coat. then sanded the cans down a bit.

Making the Tin Can Pin Cushion:

For the pin cushion, I made a fist-sized ball of real wool, which I purchased on our trip to The Homeplace in Land Between the Lakes Tennessee, to create the pin cushion stuffing. Steel wool can also be used for the stuffing, like this one from Crafty Pod.com. Using a piece of scrap fabric and hot glue I wrapped the wool ball up into a bouquet of sorts, adding dabs of hot glue where the fabric meets together. I pulled the fabric taught as I added the glue, so that the top of the “cushion” would be an easy surface to push pins through. I tied off the bouquet for extra holding power,  and then I stuffed it into a shallow tin can.

Making the Tin Can Caddy:

I drilled one hole on either side of the two larger cans, hot glued the cans together and then attached some thin gauge wire for a handle.

Now I can carry several utensils around with me, including a pin cushion as I work on a sewing project. It has that punch of color that I was looking for, now it just needs a sewing or craft room for a home!

Linking up at:

Create With Me – Tin Can Projects