Happy 100th birthday to the penny: Make your own toy pennies with frozen juice can lids

This month marks the 100th birthday of the Abraham Lincoln penny.  On August 2, 1909, the US Mint began producing the first Lincoln head penny, replacing the Indian-head penny.  Although pennies had been in production since 1792, the Lincoln head penny was the first coin with a presidential portrait.  It was commissioned by president Theodore Roosevelt in honor of the 100th birthday of Lincoln.  Learn more about the history of the penny in this report from Time Magazine. 

In honor of the penny's birthday, make your own using frozen juice can lids!  Here is how:

What you need:

Frozen juice can lids (as many as you want)
Coin template
Blank sheets of sticker paper
Color Printer
Scissors

1.  Start collecting the metal lids from frozen juice cans.  Most brands have the same size lids, so you should be fine collecting whatever you like to drink.

2.  Download the coin template right here. 

3.  Using sticker paper, print out the coin templates, as many as you want to make.  My two-page template is designed to make 12 double-sided coins

4.  Cut out each coin from the sticker paper and apply to the center of each lid.  The coin images are smaller than the juice can lids in order to avoid the rims of the lids.  Each coin has a front and back image. 

5.  Give your kids their new toy coins and let the fun begin!

A few notes on the sticker paper:
I got my paper at Office Depot, but any office supply store should have packets of 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of blank sticker paper.  The style I got was glossy, which works better than the non-glossy, since it looks more real and tends not to smear so much.   Here is a sample type.

When cutting out your stickers, don't just cut the coins out before peeling the back.  It is a royal pain trying to get the backing paper off when you do it this way.  Instead, after you have printed the coins, check the sticker paper to see if it has a side with a special tab designed to make it easier to peel.  It is far easier to peel the back off and then cut the stickers out, rather than the other way around.  On my paper, there was a scored edge running down one side that helps you fold and peel off the backing- I cut strips of coins, making sure that each strip had some of the scoring, then was able to peel sets of three and cut them out.  If you need to peel the whole sheet at once, you can peel it then cut strips of coins, so it is easier to cut out the coins, rather than working with a whole sheet.

If you want to make the coins more authentic, make sure to apply the stickers with the top of one side opposite the top of the other side (check a coin and you will see that when the heads is top side up, the tails is top side down.)

If you can't find the sticker paper, you can also print it out on regular paper and then apply the images using spray craft glue.

Want some other DIY fun? 

Make stained glass from Ziploc bags
Make your own fun-shaped crayons
Gwen Stefani-designed paper dolls- Make them yourself for free!
Make "reindeer food" for a snack
Make Snow Ice Cream
Have a Sugar on Snow party just like Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie!