My recycling bin has a new rule: if you’re colorful and made of aluminium, you’re going to be upcycled into soda can birds. It’s not negotiable. Just look at these cuties.
And the best part…… they’re ridiculously easy to make.
These bright, happy birdies can perch in your planters ….
… or strut their stuff on your walls.
You could probably turn them into fridge magnets too. Soooooo many possibilities, plus they make great gifts.
Thank goodness they’re quick to cobble together. Otherwise, I’d be drowning in a deluge of soda cans. Anyhoos, before we get to the tutorial, do me a favor and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
What You’ll Need to Hatch Your Soda Can Birds
For these birds, look for colorful soda cans that don’t have too much writing.
To flatten the cans into aluminum sheets you need a can opener, sharp scissors or craft knife and 100-grit sandpaper. If you want to emboss patterns on the wings and tail feathers you need:
- Pen or pencil
- Ball stylus or earbuds
The birdies stand on 9-gauge wire legs, and they’ve been glued together with B7000. Any adhesive that’s suitable for metal will work. Oh, and you need a small hammer, some felt and a piece of cardboard.
A quick safety note before we start
Aluminium cans may look harmless, but once you cut them they can sprout some sneaky sharp edges. Always use sharp scissors and pop on a pair of gloves if you’re worried about cutting yourself. Cut slowly so the metal doesn’t snag or spring. If you’re crafting with kids, precut the soda can birds and let them handle the fun, safer bits.
How to make recycled soda can birds
Before we can put the birdies together, we need to dismantle a soda can. There are a whole bunch of ways to do it, but I’ll share my “least-waste” method.
How to cut and prep a soda can for crafts
Rinse the can and remove the tab. Use a can opener to remove the top. I find it leaves a cleaner edge.
Switch over to a sharp craft knife and cut around the bottom.
Cut down the side of the can (where the writing bits are).
Trim or sand any sharp points and burrs. I think that’s what you call those spikey bits that stab you when you least expect it. To flatten the cut cans, I roll the sheets in different directions until they don’t curl in on themselves.
Roll gently, you don’t want to dent or ding the soft aluminum sheets.
Making the birds
Now for the fun bits. These recycled soda can birds are all about simple shapes. You don’t want anything too complicated. It just makes them harder to cut. I went for blob bodies, teardrop wings, triangular beaks and round eyes.
For the tail feathers I played around, but you do whatever works for you.
If you prefer a little help, you can download this free template and trace the birdies so they’re ready to hatch in no time. These are my rough sketches, so please double check the proportions before cutting.
Tips for “decorating” the soda can birds
There’s no right or wrong way to make these birdies. Just make sure you work on a felt covered piece of cardboard while you’re embossing the aluminum. You can use the template to make a paper pattern and use that to cut the shapes. Or, if you’re a “wing it” kinda crafter, draw your shapes straight onto the can with a pen or blunt pencil.
A pen will make sharp marks while a blunt pencil leaves softer, rounder marks. Cut the shapes out using the marks as a guide. Don’t throw the off cuts away. You can use them to make macrame arrows.
Oh, and before I forget, when you draw your shapes, think about what side of the aluminum sheet you want to use. My beaks and wings are all done using the backside of the aluminum sheet. The body and some of the tail feathers use the colorful front side.
Play around with different tools and embossing techniques. For the small soda can bird, I used an ear bud to indent the beak.
When you flip it over the beak has this lovely outdented appearance.
To emboss patterns into the aluminum sheets, you can use anything with a rounded tip to press firmly, but gently into the shape. It makes the metal puff on the other side, so it looks 3‑D instead of flat.
Or you can curl a few skinny strips of aluminum into a wild little crest and give your birdie the silliest hairdo on the branch.
When you’ve cut all the body bits and pieces, you can glue them together.
Making eyes
For the life of me, I can’t cut neat circles. Believe me, I tried, and I couldn’t find googly eyes that fit the soda can birds either. Luckily, my hubby came to the rescue with a few pipe offcuts left over from when we made this sweater‑and‑copper bed for Merlin. Just place the pipe on the aluminum sheet and give it a good whack with a hammer to punch out perfect circles.
Use a permanent marker to draw a pupil.
Making the legs
If you want your soda can birdies to perch on the wall or in a planter, they’ll need some legs. You can ignore this bit of the tutorial if you’re going to use them as fridge magnets or glue them down somewhere. To make the legs I used 9-gauge jewelry wire. You can learn more about wire gauges in this tutorial. Cut two equal lengths of wire for each bird.
Place the cut wire on a hard surface and smack one end flat with a hammer. Jewelry wire is quite soft, so you only need two or three smacks. I used the same trick to make this miniature park bench.
The flattened tips create a larger surface area when you glue the wiry legs onto the body.
Now all that’s left to do is find a spot for these cuties to shine.
I honestly can’t decide if they should live in my planters…..
Or perch on the wall.
What would you do with yours?
If you enjoyed these recycled soda can birds, don’t forget to pin the tutorial for later.
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BTW, if you’re looking for some of the things we used, we’ve got you covered. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry, it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us make more amazing crafts to share with you.
And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love and laughter. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
Last update on 2026-07-21 / Source Amazon Affiliates