Ever faced the odd no dustpan at home situation? Rare, but something as universal as a dustpan can send you scurrying to the shops to buy another one.
What if home situation does not let you step out? Or you simply do not want to spend right away on a new dustpan? If you have a plastic jug that is shaped into a quadrilateral, it can turn into your temporary dustpan with simple DIY.
All you need, is to look for a plastic jug - water or milk, or of the juice variety, and get those easy tools out.
I used a water jug for my project.
The handle for my jug was on its corner, and not centered on one of its sides.it was a matter of taking advantage of its available ridges and contours.
Things you possibly need for this super quick DIY:
-- plastic jug
-- sharp craft knife
-- a pair of scissors
-- marker
-- ruler
-- paint pen
-- embellishments (optional)
It is always easy to cut along the ridges of a plastic container. But really, before you begin anything at all, make sure to remove any labels from the jug.
A quickie way to remove product labels, is to run a hair-dryer over the stickers for about 10 seconds, and then pull the stickers out carefully.
Wash the jug thoroughly if it is a drinks one.
Next step is to mark out along the contours - first at the bottom, The flat end of the dustpan, should be diagonally opposite to where the jug's handle is placed.
Mark a line using a ruler and marker pen. And use the tip of the craft knife to cut.
After you are done with the base, mark the cut ends of the base by connecting them with the pen, towards the handle. Leave enough gap between the handle and the edge you want to cut. Run the knife.
You can use a pair of multi-purpose scissors to cut. The only trouble with using scissors is that plastic cutting lessens their sharpness. I used scissors to trim the cut surface. When you reach the mouth of the jug, cut it off the dustpan design.
The resultant piece looked alright.
The rough cut piece, you can use your scissors to smoothen through trimming. I would not advise running these edges along a lit candle flame, as that can leave uneven curves on the dustpan.
During the trimming process, I left a little curve at the dust-gathering edge of the pan, which did not work. The dust would not slide on to the pan because of the curvature.
I had to straighten it out.
If you need to keep the dustpan for longer use, make sure to pick up a jug that is made of thicker plastic.
This piece comes in handy to gather small objects that have spilt on the floor, kitchen disasters such as rice and lentils falling off, and the likes.
I kept embellishing the pan to minimum - just a white paint pen along the edges. The piece cannot match the thickness of market bought pans. It can work as a secondary one, and also as a makeshift piece before you go off to get a new one.
You can use the left over plastic from this project for other things around home. I plan to use my pieces for handmade jewellery.
This is a project best suited for adolescents and adults. Kids need to be kept far far away from it.
Pictures and content courtesy: Radhika M B
For permission to re-use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com
What if home situation does not let you step out? Or you simply do not want to spend right away on a new dustpan? If you have a plastic jug that is shaped into a quadrilateral, it can turn into your temporary dustpan with simple DIY.
All you need, is to look for a plastic jug - water or milk, or of the juice variety, and get those easy tools out.
I used a water jug for my project.
The handle for my jug was on its corner, and not centered on one of its sides.it was a matter of taking advantage of its available ridges and contours.
Things you possibly need for this super quick DIY:
-- plastic jug
-- sharp craft knife
-- a pair of scissors
-- marker
-- ruler
-- paint pen
-- embellishments (optional)
It is always easy to cut along the ridges of a plastic container. But really, before you begin anything at all, make sure to remove any labels from the jug.
A quickie way to remove product labels, is to run a hair-dryer over the stickers for about 10 seconds, and then pull the stickers out carefully.
Wash the jug thoroughly if it is a drinks one.
Next step is to mark out along the contours - first at the bottom, The flat end of the dustpan, should be diagonally opposite to where the jug's handle is placed.
Mark a line using a ruler and marker pen. And use the tip of the craft knife to cut.
After you are done with the base, mark the cut ends of the base by connecting them with the pen, towards the handle. Leave enough gap between the handle and the edge you want to cut. Run the knife.
You can use a pair of multi-purpose scissors to cut. The only trouble with using scissors is that plastic cutting lessens their sharpness. I used scissors to trim the cut surface. When you reach the mouth of the jug, cut it off the dustpan design.
The resultant piece looked alright.
The rough cut piece, you can use your scissors to smoothen through trimming. I would not advise running these edges along a lit candle flame, as that can leave uneven curves on the dustpan.
During the trimming process, I left a little curve at the dust-gathering edge of the pan, which did not work. The dust would not slide on to the pan because of the curvature.
I had to straighten it out.
If you need to keep the dustpan for longer use, make sure to pick up a jug that is made of thicker plastic.
This piece comes in handy to gather small objects that have spilt on the floor, kitchen disasters such as rice and lentils falling off, and the likes.
I kept embellishing the pan to minimum - just a white paint pen along the edges. The piece cannot match the thickness of market bought pans. It can work as a secondary one, and also as a makeshift piece before you go off to get a new one.
You can use the left over plastic from this project for other things around home. I plan to use my pieces for handmade jewellery.
This is a project best suited for adolescents and adults. Kids need to be kept far far away from it.
Pictures and content courtesy: Radhika M B
For permission to re-use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com
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