DIY Recycled Can Cookie/Cracker/Playdough Cutters

I recently came across this blog with instructions and a recipe for DIY Goldfish Crackers and thought it was a wonderful idea for a rainy day for the kids.  Again, I felt the need to make a few adjustments when I made mine.  Instead of making goldfish cutters, since it is the season for Valentine's Day, I made heart cutters.  Also given the edges of the cutters are very sharp when made out of recycled soda cans, I put masking tape around the edges of mine so the kids would have a safe place to grip the cutter without hurting themselves (please note the bottom of these cutters are still sharp, so please supervise your children while doing this activity).  As it only took 15 minutes to make these, they are disposable which makes for easy clean up (since they have tape on them, they wouldn't really be washable, although I suppose they could be reused with playdough).

How to make Heart Shaped Cookie/Cracker/Playdough Cutters:

Step 1: Cut a strip out of the middle of the can about 1" wide

Step 2: Take a piece of masking tape and place it along the top 1/4" of the strip

Trim it to 1/4" and then wrap it around the other side of the strip.

 

This will make the edge you grab when you are making shapes and protects your hands from getting cut.  

Step 3: Using a pair of flat needle nose pliers (or the edge of a ruler if you don't have pliers), bend the middle of the strip at a 90 degree angle. 

Step 4: Use a marker to wrap the strip around, making the top curves of the heart. 

 Step 5: Use the pliers again to make another 90 degree bend for the bottom of the heart

Cut off the excess metal about 1/4" past the bend you just made.

  

This is what the taped edge looks like.  It is ok if it looks uneven or not shaped quite right.  The side that matters is the bottom sharp edge.

  Step 6: Wrap the two sides of the heart around to meet each other.  Make sure the sharp sides match up flat (the top side with the tape does not matter if it is uneven). 








 Step 7: Tape the outside edge together.  If the inside edge sticks out like this, you can trim it.  Sometimes you may need to wrap the side around the marker slightly to make the inside edge lay flat.

Note: You can make yours any size you want.  Mine ended up being about an 1" as I wanted to make these goldfish size.  The oval shaped one I made to make the petals of a flower.  You can make any shape you want.  Be careful of the creases, anything more than a 90 degree angle can actually break the strip in half; at least that's what happened to me!