What is it exactly?:

It's a lovely flower arrangement made from old pop cans. Don't know what to say? Say it with flowers, or, um, at least a cheap substitute for flowers. It may not have the sweet aroma of real garden-grown buds, but the sugary smell of old carbonated beverages might linger for awhile.

Usefulness factor:

If you're tired of flowers that wither away and you have a few minutes and a good pair of scissors, you can make a bouquet. Most store-bought flowers will end up in the trash within a matter of days, so why not work backward by starting with materials from the trash to create soda-can flowers that will last forever?

Get started:

1. Pop the tab and down a few cans of pop, then rinse the cans out thoroughly. Take a few moments for a bathroom break if needed.
2. Using strong scissors, poke into the side of the can near the top to create a hole. Using this hole as a starting point, cut around the outside of the can. Cut down the cylinder and cut the bottom of the can off.
3. Smooth the rectangular sheet of aluminum cut from the can, draw outlines for flower petals and cut them out.
4. Stack and tape the graduated flower shapes, using the bottom of the can as the center of the flower.
5. Using the sharp end of the scissors, poke a hole in the center of what used to be the bottom of the can. Get some sturdy wire and run it through the hole; twist and coil it as desired to create a stem that effectively will hold the flower in place.
6. Optional additional step for the craftsman overachiever: Once you've got the petals looking the way you want them, you can go one step further and paint the pop cans to your liking. Call us lazy, but we purposefully selected cans based not on their content or taste, but the color of their labels, so we could avoid the fume-filled painting process.
7. Find a lovely vase or discarded wine bottle to display your new beverage bouquet.

50-70 cents for a few wires and ruined can deposits, but trust us, the sheer joy you'll get from showing off your crafty side with this project is priceless.

Challenge level:

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a 4. This carbonated project was very easy to assemble. The biggest difficulty might be getting a few strapped-for-cash college students to part with their precious cans.

4 Stars out of 10

These aluminum blossoms of cans will brighten up your day and your living space. Yeah, of course, you could give a loved one an expensive floral arrangement from the grocery store, but you'll end up wasting a small fortune on some overpriced garden-grown petals that only will wither and die. Is that what you really want - to have your romantic gesture shriveled up and lying on the bottom of a trash can? We thought not. Aluminum Bloom's permanently perky petals won't fade away.