Mirror business comes from recycled cans

With so many articles ending up in landfills and other articles being recycled, I’ve recently been considering what part I can play in waste management. I thought about potentially buying everything used for one year (except food) just to see if I could do it. I think I would lack the willpower though.

In this month’s issue of Phoenix Home and Garden, there’s a write up about Jill Helms, who is using recycled cans to design artsy mirror frames. According to the article, Jill doesn’t drink soda, but the design of pop cans appealed to her as an artist. She had attended an art class to make plant stakes from aluminum cans. There, she discovered how easy the metal was to work with. This gave her the confidence to experiment with using cans for a hallway mural. She didn’t have plans to design anything else, until her sons begged her to make something else for them. She made framed mirrors for them.

Prior to her recycled can framed mirror business, Jill worked as a graphic designer for sixteen years. She’s also had her own mural business and paints children’s furniture. Jill currently works as a part time special education aide at a local high school, where she is able to collect the cans she uses for her art.

Jill has found her customers tend to like art from the soda they are used to drinking, so Diet Coke is her most popular can to use. Her frames can be found at a local store called the Southwest Gardener, or online at jillhelms.com.

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