Pet Supply Storage: 8 Upcycling Crafts for Bags and Cans

Looking for ways to upcycle those cat and dog food bags and cans that take up so much space in your garbage can and in the landfill? Here are a few ideas — some decorative and some practical — for you to upcycle pet supply storage bags and cans.

Got Bags?

1. Food mat: Keep the mess off the floor by making a food mat for your four-legged friend. Simply cut a piece of a dog food bag into a circle, rectangle or square. Then, add a non-slip backing and sew it together with a vinyl binding. Now you have a mat that will keep food off the floor and is easy to wipe clean.
2. A tote: A dog food bag turned into a tote makes an extra strong carryall, making it a perfect bag to take to the grocery store. All you need is a sewing machine, thread and scissors. Cut the bag to the height you want. Fold over the top to make a neat hem and sew it closed using a zigzag stitch. Make handles by cutting two strips, each about three inches wide. Double them over and sew them onto the bag. Done!
3. A revamped lawn chair: Your favorite old metal lawn chairs might be relegated to the back of the garage because the webbing ripped or sagged. Make the chairs look like new using dog or cat food bags for webbing. Cut into strips the same width and length as the old strips, then simply sew them onto the chair for a quick and easy transformation.
4. Baby bibs: Plastic pet food bags make the perfect baby bibs because they're so easy to wipe clean. Trace over a current baby bib onto a food storage bag and cut out. For lining, cut out a piece of fleece that is an inch or so larger. (You'll need that extra inch for a border.) Stretch the fleece around the bag and sew together. Cut the "neck" of the fleece apart and add touch fasteners or snaps. Now your baby animal lover is the happy owner of a one-of-a-kind bib!
5. Freezer burn guard: If you know you're going to be freezing people food for a while before eating it, place the wrapped food in a clean, empty dog or cat food bag. Doing so adds an extra layer of protection against freezer burn. Just make sure you wash the bag clean first.

Don't Can Your Cans

1. Decorations: The blog DIY & Crafts gets you started with cute DIY tin can decorations. You and your kids can use your imaginations to create all sorts of decorations and centerpieces, such as snowmen for winter, pumpkins for Halloween, or vases for spring blooms.
2. Containers: Paint your cleaned pet supply storage can to remake it into a pretty and useful container. Cat food cans are the perfect size for a desk drawer, where they can hold things like paperclips, pushpins or spare change. You could also use them in your medicine cabinet for bobby pins, barrettes and hairbands.
3. Wind chimes: This is a cute project for kids to do and makes great gifts for grandparents and other relatives. All you need is tin cans, string, and washers. Hands On As We Grow has a nice tutorial on how to make wind chimes from tin cans with kids.

If you've got a creative or craft itch to scratch, be sure to take a look at your pet food packaging as there are endless ideas of things you can create from upcycling the packaging.