Campbell's Soup Stool |
I've always loved those pieces of furniture that are made just like other famous objects. As soon as I found this plastic bin, the first thing that came to my mind was the Campbell's Soup. Thanks to Andry Warhol's paintings, the Campbell's Soup has become a big art icon. Icons are something that everybody recognizes. So I decided that I wanted to transform that bin into a big version of the Campbell's Soup cans and use it as a stool with a secret compartment in it. Cool, isn't it? |
Materials and Tools:
- cylindrical bin - it can be plastic, wood, (very) hard and resistant cardboard or whatever you can find.
- bin's top or 2 pieces of wood to create a top for it
- red and white spray paint
- red, white, black, yellow acrylic paints
- thin upholstery foam - 1cm (0.39 inches) thick is fine. You can find it here.
- red artificial leather
- staple gun
- adhesive tape
- ruler
- paint brush
- screws
Using a ruler, find the middle points of your bin and divide it in half applying a strip of adhesive tape all around the bin.
Keep the rest of the strip below the "imaginary" line. You need the adhesive tape as a mask to paint the bin. You'll remove it when the paint is dry. |
Step 2Use the red spray paint to paint the upper part of the bin. You may need to apply more than one coat of paint to perfectly cover the surface.
When the red paint is finally dry, remove the tape and apply a new one on the red part, always following the line in the middle of the bin. Make sure to cover the red part with something this time (I used newspaper), so that the white paint doesn't ruin the red one. Paint that second part using white spray paint. Let it dry and finally remove both the newspaper and tape. |
Step 3You need to create some stencils on paper now.
You can download the pictures that you need to print here and here. I personally drew the second one so it's not really perfect...but still ok! Once you've printed (or drawn) them, you need to draw what I call "bridges" on the letters. They are little strips that keep the words from breaking while you work on the stencil. The circles in the P or B would also be left out otherwise. Click on the photos to see how I made them. The more they are, the more resistant the stencil will be. When there are finally enough bridges on the words, you can cut the written parts out of the paper using a cutter, but make sure not to cut the bridges! Try to be as accurate as possible. The last stencil you have to make is just a simple circle on a piece of paper. It needs to have a diameter of about 10cm (3.93 inches), but that also depends on your own proportions. |
Step 4To paint on the stencil you either need a stencil brush or, if you don't have one, you can create a stencil sponge. I cut a small piece of thin upholstery foam and joined the sides together with some tape. That worked perfectly for me.
Use some tape to attach the Campbell's paper stencil on the red part of the bin. Try to put it on the first half of the red part. Dip the sponge in the white acrylic paint and dab on the stencil to paint the word. If you think that one coat isn't enough, do it again without moving the stencil and let it dry. Remove the stencil and paint the spots left free from the bridges using a paint brush. |
Step 5Take your other stencil now and attach the 'condensed' word below the Campbell's one. Use white paint and sponge to paint it, just like you did for the previous stencil.
Let it dry, remove the stencil and complete the word painting the bridges with a paint brush. Finally, attach that same stencil in the middle of the white part of the bin and paint 'Tomato' in red and 'SOUP' in black, always painting the bridges at the end. |
Attach the circle stencil in the middle of the bin, right where the red and white parts meet, between the 'condensed' and 'Tomato' words.
Paint the whole circle in orange. You can mix red and yellow acrylic paints to obtain that color. Let it dry and remove the stencil. Using that same color and a paint brush, paint a border inside the black 'soup' word, as you can see in the photos. Finally, paint a thin red line all around the bottom of the bin and small orange stars on top of it. |
Step 7Paint a black shadow on the Campbell's word using a thin brush. You need to be very precise and accurate. It will give a tridimensional look to the word.
If you don't know how to do it, simply copy it from my photos. The work on the bin is over! |
Step 8You need to create the top of the bin now. If you don't already have one, cut 2 discs out of wood. One must be as big as the circumference of your bin. The second one must be about 1cm smaller (0.39 inches). It must be small enough to be able to go into the bin to keep the cover steady.
Before joining the 2 pieces together, you need to cover them. Cut a circle out of upholstery foam. It must be about 2cm (0.78 inches) bigger than the big wood disc. Lay it on a table and place the wood disc on it. Staple the foam all around the circumference of the wood, pulling the foam to the back. Start with just a few staples to keep the foam from moving, then keep stapling all around. |
Step 9Cut a piece of red artificial leather. The piece must be bigger than the wood disc.
Lay it on a table with the front facing the table and place the wood top on it with the foam facing the fabric. Start to staple it on the 4 cardinal points of the wood back pulling the leather. Keep stapling all around the circumference, always pulling it. When the leather is finally all stapled on the back of the wood, cut out all the exceeding fabric. This will be the top of the bin/seat of the stool. |
Step 10Cut another piece of red artificial leather and use it to cover the smaller wood disc, just like you did for the other one. You don't need to put foam in it this time, simply cover it with the fabric.
When you are done, place the smaller disc on the back of the bigger one and join them together with screws. Make sure to put them on the back, where the smaller piece of wood is so that they will stay inside the bin and not so visible on the seat. Place your top/seat on the bin to close it. |