Last Updated on June 1, 2016 by Babita
Recently Chick-fil-A challenged their mom panel members to upcycle their Spicy Southwest salad containers. They encouraged us to be as creative as possible. As a member of this panel, and also as someone who loves to DIY, I decided to take on this challenge. However, before I even begin to write about this project I have to say this is one of the best salads I have ever tasted. It is perfect for our Indian palate.
Anyway after thinking about it for few days, I decided to transform the container into a decorative light. I was inspired by the lanterns that you would find in a Turkish or Moroccan bazaar. The container was sturdy and good quality plastic. So I knew it would hold up well.
1. I started off by cleaning the salad container and wiping it dry. Next I spent a an hour melting holes on all sides of the container with a hot nail. I then spray painted both the container and the lid white. I applied two coats of white paint.
2. Once the white paint had dried, I spray painted both of them with golden spray paint. I applied two coats of the golden paint for good coverage. It ended up all bright and shiny — just the way I wanted.
3. The lid already had four holes in the four corners. So I decided to attach twine handles through those holes. I took some kitchen twine, put them through the hole and knotted it on the inside. On top of the lid I used basic chain stitch to crocheted about a foot of chain for the handle. I repeated this process on the other sides as well. I then gathered all the four twine chains in the center and tied them together to form a triangle shaped handle.
4. Finally I taped up some multi-colored battery operated LED lights strategically on the inside of the lid. This was really easy to do. Only thing I had to make sure was that all the batteries were in the compartment before I taped the lights.
After the lights were secure all I had to do was close the lid down over the container. The lights fit in perfectly inside and the outside looked very neat. Check out the pictures below. I loved how the kitchen twine handles looked against the gold container.
and this is the view of the light at night.
I have to say, I loved how this project turned out. It turned out exactly the way I visualized it. In fact my husband liked it so much that he asked me to make more of them. He said it would look great on our deck. I think he wants me to make more of them because he wants to eat more of the Chick-Fil-A Spicy Southwest Salad :).
Stephanie
Thanks for such a creative how to.
Marielle Altenor
Ah, the magic of gold sprays paint! I love it! This diy totally came together with the gold and the lights!
Courtneylynne
Omg how neat. This might be one of the most cleaver ways I have ever seen to upcycle something!
Ann Bacciaglia
I love it when i can upcycle things. I love this light idea. I will have to give it a try.
Seattle Travel Blogger
Wow, what a creative idea.
This really has a nice appeal at night.
sheila ressel
That is too cute! What a great way to recycle!
Sarah Bailey
Oh wow that is amazing what an interesting light it makes, so creative! x
terry
You need to make a lot of these so you can have them all around your patio or porch. What a cute idea!
Amanda Ripsam
I think it’s a pretty lantern vs a salad but it looks great you should make a few for around the house. ChickFilA’s salads should be hung up in the Chick Fia stores.
Lady Lilith
This is such a clever idea. I bet so many have left over holiday lights.
Annemarie LeBlanc
That is so cute! Who would have thought that those salad containers could be up-cycled that way? I will have to turn up my creativity and see what I can do with ordinary containers.
Pam
What a fun way to turn something that most people would throw away into a pretty craft! I love ChickFilA’s salads.
Paula Schuck
Oh, that is the coolest! I love upcycling projects, and I can’t believe how easy that one is. You can really do anything with anything if you use your imagination.
Cheryl
This is creative genius. How pretty and useful.