I’ve got a quick and easy upcycle project for those aluminum cans you might otherwise throw out. Transform them into an inexpensive but darling Easter grass centerpiece for your Easter celebration.

Start by collecting and cleaning out aluminum cans. Decorate them with colored paper using your homemade nontoxic and eco friendly glue and perhaps even a strip of Washi Tape if you have it.

Next, gather your supplies. You need your decorated upcycled aluminum cans, small rocks, soil and wheat grass.

Here’s the secret to quickly making these centerpieces:

You can find wheat grass already sprouted and grown at the pet store!

What a time saver! And if you are anything like me, and have waited until the last minute, you really don’t have time to grow your own wheat grass from seed. So pop on into your local pet store and pick up some wheat grass!

Make your Easter Grass Centerpiece:

• Fill your upcycled aluminum can about 1/4 of the way with rocks
• Add soil to reach about 1/2 way up the can
• Transplant your wheat grass from it’s container into the can
• Add water
• Decorate your home!

For the last two years, this old dry erase white board has been sitting out in our garage behind the trash cans. And here’s my confession: I really wanted to buy a new white board. The one in the garage was dirty, and the dry erase marker would not come off. In fact, it had become more permanent marker than dry erase marker. And far be it for me to mention, it wasn’t a very pretty board. It looked exactly like what it was: a reject from an old office space.

I knew getting a new one was a stupid thing to do. But I am part of the disposable generation. Getting something pretty and new is always so tempting.

Instead of buying new, I did a little research into how to clean an old dry erase board. I found a video on YouTube that recommended using a bit of baking soda mixed with water. HOWEVER, in the comments, someone said it would scratch the board. Hmmmm. I’ll admit it. I decided that if it scratched the board, it would be the perfect excuse to just buy a new one. Well let me tell you, add a little baking soda to some water, and it works like a champ! The marker came right off, but there was a bit of grit left on the board. I just used a wet rag to wipe it off.

So now I had a clean dry erase white board, but I did not have a pretty dry erase board. So I decided to fix that with a little bit of duct tape. After all, duct tape fixes everything, doesn’t it?

I picked two rolls of duct tape that complimented my black and white kitchen. It helped that I had a coupon!

I trimmed the silver rim of the dry erase board with the solid black duct tape to make it look like a frame, then I added a strip of the black lace to the inside. To get the look of mitered corners, I folded down the corners but left a small strip of the adhesive exposed. Then, I just stuck that small strip down. Walla.

And here is my cleaned and customized old dry erase white board:

It’s not new, but now it looks like it is!