DIY Dog Treat Container from a Popcorn Tin

Take that old popcorn or cookie tin you may have received for Christmas and upcycle it into a fancy new DIY dog treat container in no time! Not only will your pup love you for it, but your wallet will be happy too!

How to Upcycle a Popcorn Tin into a Dog Treat Container

Hey Pretty Handy Girl readers! It’s Amanda from Domestically Creative and today I’m sharing how easy it is to create a unique and customizable dog treat container by upcycling a used cookie or popcorn tin! I have a 10 year old lab who is very spoiled to put it mildly, and she may have a few packages of treats taking up space in our hall closet. We also keep our coats in that closet, and since it’s Winter here we’ve been reaching for our coats more often. Well, every time we go for our coats, Miss Delilah thinks that we are getting her a treat. See the issue?

Instead of continuing to trip over the dog when we grab our coats, I decided to create a new place to keep her treats. It just so happens we had this little popcorn tin lying around after the holidays, and it fits her treats perfectly. Let me show you how I upcycled it into a new dog treat container.

Materials:

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• Empty metal tin with lid
• Black Satin Spray Paint
• White Satin Spray Paint (Black and white were used in this tutorial but any color combination works)
• Comfort Grip nozzle (this is a game changer if you use spray paint a lot)
• Design cut onto vinyl, or Alphabet stickers

Instructions:

Step 1: Prep the surface

Clean the tin inside and out really well and let it dry completely. If there is a food label anywhere on your tin, make sure you clean it off completely. Soak it in warm soapy water for a few hours, then come back and scrape off any glue and paper. If there is some hard to clean off residue from the sticky label, Goo Gone or lemon oil works great at getting it off. Just be sure to really clean the oil residue off before moving on to the next step.

Step 2: Spray Paint base color

Spray both the tin and the lid in the base color of your choice. In this tutorial that base color is black as this will be the color of the design in the final project.

Tips for Even Spray Painting:

• Spray paint outdoors on a calm day (not too hot or cold) or use a painting tent to protect from any bugs or debris blowing onto the wet paint.
• Make sure to keep the nozzle about 12-15” away from the surface you’ll be painting.
• Spray in short, even, and quick horizontal lines across the surface, starting at the top and working your way down. The burst of spray should start and end just slightly off the sides of the object you are painting.
• Don’t try to get total coverage on the first pass, that is how drips occur.
• Let the paint dry completely in between coats and before handling or moving.

Step 3: Add the design

After the base color has dried and cured completely, add a vinyl label of your choice. You can do this by cutting out removable vinyl on a Silhouette or Circuit machine, or you can buy Alphabet stickers and use those. Either method will work, but it’s important to use removable vinyl or stickers. Do not use permanent vinyl unless you plan to skip the next steps.

Place the stickers or vinyl design onto the dog treat container and smooth out any bubbles to make sure the label completely adheres to the tin. Any edges that aren’t down all the way could let paint seep underneath in the next step.

Step 4: Spray paint top color

Give the dog treat container a coat of white spray paint, following the tips above in step 2. It will probably take 2-3 coats to get good coverage. Let the paint dry completely before moving to the next step.

Step 5: Remove the vinyl design or stickers

Gently peel the vinyl or stickers from the dog treat container. I’ve found that using tweezers to grab an edge can be helpful to get the process started. 

Fill up your brand new dog treat container with your pup’s favorite treats and pop the lid back on to keep them fresh! Now you’ve got a stylish new container that costs next to nothing to create.

Delilah has quickly learned the sound of me removing the lid to her dog treat container and is by my side in an instant. She can even be awakened from a deep sleep by the sound! Funny that she can’t hear me yelling her name when she’s decided to take herself on a walk around the neighborhood.

I’m Amanda, and I am the creator and voice behind the food and DIY blog, Domestically Creative. What started as a place to share updates with friends and family after we moved from Illinois to Tennessee and then to Texas, turned into a passion for finding creative and frugal ways to feed us and decorate our homes.

I have always had the “make it myself” attitude and I’m not afraid to bust out the power tools or get creative when it comes to decorating our home on a budget. You can usually find me scouring the local thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales looking for my next makeover (like this litter box cabinet), or dreaming up ways to make our new house feel more like home. My most recent project was giving my home office a much needed facelift. Some of the plans included creating a fun inspirational accent wall and adding pegboard to store my craft hoards.

I currently call Missouri home, where I live with my husband, dog, and 2 cats in a pretty dull, late 90’s split level. My husband and I both love to travel the U.S and recently purchased a small travel trailer to tag along in our journeys. In our free time together we can usually be found working together on a home project, exploring a new place, or just lounging with our pup, Delilah.

I’d love for you to connect with me on social media via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!

See all of Amanda’s tutorials HERE.