Can Storage

After this idea on Pinterest a month or two ago, I've been meaning to get my act in gear. I finally got a couple afternoons where the boys' naps overlapped (HOORAY for 2 hours of silence!!) and was able to break out the crafting gear.

I'm a big fan of a stocked pantry, which means a lot of cans in our family. My husband is in the process of constructing a bigger, badder pantry for me. Bigger means more cans as well as deeper shelves. Have you ever tried to stack cans on a deep shelf? If so, then you know how annoying & impractical it is. This really is a great option and I've loved it for our house.

I started with a handful of empty soda boxes - I got lucky when Target had a crazy deal on Pepsi products last month and we stocked up on soda anyways. Of course the "dispenser tab" got ripped off, and I cut a hole towards the back of the box to drop the cans in.

*Sidenote - thus far, I haven't found the drop slot very useful, BUT I cut them in anyways, just in case I want to use it in the future. We go through canned goods pretty quickly, so a huge emphasis on rotation isn't always necessary.*

This was a great way to use all that extra scrapbook paper I have sitting around since I went to digital scrapping. haha. I used 2 pieces of 12x12 for the bulk of the box and 1 piece of 12x12 for the front.

I used Modge Podge to stick everything down, put a label on the front & then brushed on a layer over the top of everything.

I took the original poster's idea one step further. Puddings & Jellos are another item that are ridiculous to store if you keep a lot of them. I cut off the entire top of the box & covered it the same way. Now, I just slide it out, find my flavor & slide it right back in.

The finished product - SOOO much better than a bunch of jumbled cans lined up 24" deep!!

My only complaint with the whole thing is that while the box holds 12 cans of soda, it only holds about 10 cans of corn/beans/etc. It makes for a different fit inside the box, rather than the double stack you find with the soda. Ah well, it's still amazing.

Original idea credit belongs to Then She Made