Upcycle Coffee Cans

Does your coffee come in a metal can? Or even a plastic one? There are tons of ideas on how to re use those cans so that they aren't piling up at the garbage dump.

Here are some ideas for upcycling those coffee cans that we were able to come up with:

Paint them or Decoupage for giving gifts: Remove any labels and wash the outside so that the paint will adhere evenly.Then using spray paint made for either metal or plastic (depending on what type of coffee can you have) spray in a color that you like. You can use these spray painted cans to put gifts in to give to people for holidays or other special occasions.If decoupaging use a type of glue recommended for decoupage and use it to adhere the paper that you want to decorate your can with.

Use to absorb moisture: Take a coffee can, fill with charcoal briquets, punch holes in the lid and place in a closet that stays damp in order to absorb moisture.

Turn into a lantern: Using a drill or other tool punch holes in a pattern on your coffee can (this idea is only good for metal cans). Place a candle inside and light for a pretty candle lantern that you created yourself.

Yarn or Twine Storage: Punch a hole into the lid of a can and place the end of your yarn or twine through it. Then put your yarn into the can and put the lid back on. This will help keep your yarns from getting tangled and help you to always find the end of it.

Make a Kitchen Compost Bucket: Place an empty coffee can on your kitchen counter so that you have a place to toss kitchen scraps in between your trips out to the compost pile.

Emergency Traction Can: Keep a coffee can filled with clean litter so that if you ever find your car stuck without traction  you have litter on hand. To regain traction take the can and litter and sprinkle it where you need to in order for your car to regain traction.

Use as a Planter: You can paint your can in any color that you want, then punch some holes in the bottom, put about 1" of gravel in order to keep the holes from becoming blocked, fill with potting soil and plant some pretty blooms in your new planter.

There are tons more ideas for using coffee cans. So fire up your coffee maker and get to using those coffee grounds so you have a free coffee can to reuse around your home. Have more ideas? Please share them with us in the comments!

10 Uses for Leftover Coffee

For those of you who really enjoy coffee and own a one of the large pot coffee maker brands you may find yourself with leftover coffee from time to time. So what can you do to not waste that coffee?

First you will want to save your coffee, the best way to save it is to put it in a container in the fridge. I like using a glass milk bottle to store my coffee in the fridge, since it is clear glass I know right away what is in the container. I do let the coffee cool some before pouring into the milk bottle so that the heat doesn't crack the glass.

Here are 10 uses for your leftover coffee:

1. Make some Mocha Brownies. Just replace the water or milk in your favorite recipe with coffee.
2. Coffee Ice Cream. If you own an ice cream freezer, you can use the coffee to flavor your vanilla ice cream recipe to give it a nice coffee flavor.
3. Use to marinate your steaks or beef. Many people like to mix it with chili powder for their marinades.
4. If you own any houseplants that need more acidic soil you can use coffee to water them occassionally to help boost the acid level in the soil.
5. Freeze to use as ice in iced coffee drinks so that your iced coffee doesn't become watered down.
6. Create a mocha frosting. This can be done with most frosting flavors, just stir it into the frosting that you are making, works well on most cake flavors as well.
7. Use to dye fabrics, paper, or even to stain wood. 
8. Make Tiramisu, just do a search for tiramisu recipes and choose the one that sounds the best to you.
9. Make red eye gravy.
10. Keep cooled in the refrigerator and make your own easy iced coffees throughout the day.

What are your suggestions for using leftover coffee?

Making Irish Coffee Ice Cream

Sometimes it is good to just relax on a hot afternoon with a nice cold treat. Spring is officially here and the weather is finally warming up. Now is the time to bring out your ice cream freezer and put it to the test with this coffee ice cream recipe. This is a 21+ recipe

Irish Coffee Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients needed:
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. instant espresso coffee powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
4 oz. egg substitute
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup Irish whiskey or brandy
dash of salt

Directions:
In a small saucepan mix your milk, espresso coffee powder, and brown sugar. Heat over low heat until your sugar and espresso powder have dissolved. Remove your saucepan from the heat and place in a bowl of cold or ice water so that the mixture can be cooled to room temperature. Pour this mixture into a blender or food processor and add the rest of your ingredients. Blend until everything is smooth. Cover and place in the refrigerator until it is ready to freeze. Blend for another few seconds before your pour into your ice cream freezer. Follow the instructions on your ice cream freezer manual for the rest of the steps (each freezer is slightly different).

Yields: 1 Quart