I won a crafting contest!

Over the recent holiday season a company, Kitchen Mama US, hosted a really fun Christmas can craft contest! I decided to enter, and my Forest Can-dle won!

If you don't know about Kitchen Mama yet, you soon will! They are a widely popular can opener brand that offers three different styles of no touch, automatic can openers that come in a variety of fun colors! On their website it says, "it will be the last can opener you will ever need!" It leaves no sharp edges, food safe, and is battery operated. It's also the perfect size to travel or take along with you on a camping trip! I am excited to try it out when I receive mine, and share with you how it works! I am always recycling cans for crafty purposes and I know this can opener will come in super handy!

The prizes were one of their cute kitchen handheld can openers (just for entering and posting a can craft!) and the GRAND PRIZE was to be an iPHONE 12 Pro! I originally saw the posting about the contest from a kids crafting account I follow called Hello Wonderful

I invite you to check out their website and Instagram as they have many MANY creative ideas, fun, and products for kids! They even have a new food website called Hello Yummy! I would love to make everything on that website, including their super cute Snowman Soup recipe!

The Kitchen Mama US can contest had a few simple guidelines to follow. The theme was Christmas or a wintery idea and you had to repurpose a can into something else... that's it! I have never entered any sort of craft contest before and I have to admit I was a little nervous about it! But what maker can't resist a good crafting challenge?!

I had a vision in my head that included a wintery forest look since our neighborhood is nestled in a wooded area. I love to decorate for the holidays with items from the backyard! I use lots of cedar and sticks for craft projects! Recycling from nature is inexpensive, helps the Earth, and smells good too!

This craft project called for a wintery nature walk! I first thought to fill the can with evergreen branches but my husband came up with the idea of a candle... a cannnn-dle... get it?! I thought it was so funny, and he didn't even get what he said at first! Keep reading to find out how to create a your very own Forest candle:

Step 1) Gather supplies...

You will need:

- a can

- a can opener of course! Like this one!

- gardening shears

- a handful of roughly the same sizes of twigs

- a sprig of evergreen or cedar

- mini pinecones

- dried oranges

- ribbon

- essential oil scents (I used orange, you can also use clove!)

- a candle wick

- cinnamon sticks

- candle wax blocks, I had paraffin on hand but you can also use soy. Beeswax is the most eco friendly!

- hot glue gun and glue sticks

- glass bowl and spoon

- clothespin

- thermometer

Step 2) Go foraging in your own backyard! I searched my backyard for fallen twigs and cedar! I already had the mini pinecones and dried oranges in my craft supplies. Dried oranges are simple to make. Simply, slice, sprinkle with sugar, and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Step 3) Cut open the can and make sure it's washed and dried. Measure and cut the sticks against the side of the can. It's okay if some are a bit longer and shorter... it makes for a more rustic look!

I just love the different textures of the sticks. Some are a tad thicker and that's fine.

Step 4) Hot glue each stick, one at a time, around the can. Don't worry about big gaps. You can fill those in after with thinner sticks and glue them over the gaps.

Step 5) Hot glue the candle wick to the bottom.

Step 6) Cut wax into cubes and melt in glass bowl in the microwave at 2 minute intervals until all melted.

Step 7) Use your thermometer and when your wax cools till 135 degrees. Drop in your scents and stir! I put in 18-20 drops.

Step 9) With your clothespin attached the wick and resting on the edge of the can, pour in candle wax. You can also use two sticks to hold it in place instead of a clothespin. When it is almost dry and still a bit soft, tuck in some dried oranges around the wick into the wax.

Step 10) I waited an hour for it to dry. Glue on cinnamon sticks and cedar. Then tie on ribbon, and glue the pinecones over the ribbon.

This Forest candle makes such an easy inexpensive gift for a friend or neighbor! I enjoyed so much crafting this can for the Kitchen Mama US contest! I hope you will give it a try!

Here are all the crafty can creations that were in the contest:

Each one was SO unique and I loved how the makers used all kinds of different supplies! AllSmallCrafts made an "Upcycled Candy Dish" our of cardboard with snowy trucks going 'round the mountains! LuluMake went outside the box and crafted a totally cute felted scene inside a sardine can! HelloWonderful_Co crafted a cute wintery felt penguin candy cane holder! OceanChildCrafts made an owl can out of recycled bottle caps, paper, and cardboard was just adorable! MakeItYourOwn made an INCREDIBLE snow globe night light! I cannot believe the talent that that went into these tin cans! I invite you to check out all these makers and their pages! Their crafting DIY's are amazing! Many more crafters joined along in this challenge and it was so fun to see their videos on their Instas and Facebook pages on how they made their designs!

Thanks to this challenge, it gave our families a crafty thing for us to do at home together! I invite you to take the challenge too! What can YOU make out of a recycled can?