Milk Can House Number

3 Materials
$20
2 Hours
Easy
My parents-in-law gave us an awesome old milk can and it took me a little while to decide what I could do with it. After some thought I decided to use it as a country-inspired house number display.









The milk can had already been re-painted at one point and while the green paint and the rust spots definitely gave it a nice patina, I decided to clean it up and repaint it to make it a little cleaner and kid-friendly.










First step was to clean up all the loose paint. I used a wire brush (affiliate link), metal scraper, and rough-grit sandpaper to clean it up and make a good base for the new paint.










Once it was ready I used Rust-Oleum Professional High Performance Protective Enamel in matte black and gave it two coats, letting dry about 24 hours between coats. For the stencil I made a point to choose a font and size that looked like it belonged there - that maybe the farmer numbered all his milk cans and this was just one in the lineup. The stencils I used were from the Martha Stewart Monogram Serif Stencil set (affiliate link), trimming the letters down and taping them together with painters tape. I had used the "o" previously for another project.. hence why it's brown.










I used white acrylic paint to stencil it and filled the gaps in the stencil with a small brush after. I think the milk can came out pretty cute and adds the perfect country touch!


Please check out the original post on my blog for product links!
http://www.birchlandinghome.com/journal/2015/7/7/milk-can-house-number


{ Follow me on Instagram @birchlandinghome }





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Sarah | Birch Landing Home
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  • Weazie Weazie on Mar 29, 2020

    I had pinned your post for future use. Well, the future has arrived! What type of brush did you use to paint the can? Love this!

  • Lynne Lynne on Dec 16, 2020

    I have several old milk cans I could do. What did you use to pound out the dents?

  • Lynne Lynne on Dec 17, 2020

    Thank you for the info. I'll take your advice on paint, too. Lynne


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  • Denise Taylor Davidson Denise Taylor Davidson on Jan 08, 2018

    I’m not sure what it would cost to ship one of these milk cans they’re very heavy I have quite a few that I would love to get rid of

  • Joanie Joanie on Jan 14, 2019

    Great job. Sharp lookin' and not over done....love Milk cans.... I'd love to have just 1. ;((

    • Thank you so much! Yes, they can be hard to come by - very thankful for my parents-in-law that found this one! Good luck finding a deal on one!!

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