According to online auction sites, anyone with a spare 3,000 tabs from aluminum cans might sell them for $15.

For those in the market to buy them, the aluminum tabs can be turned into countless wares from jewelry to lamp shades to halter tops.

The items are marketed through upscale boutiques or to those with a goal of shopping green.

For people like Carol Ann Weaver, they offer a unique and low-cost way to be creative.

“It's a fun craft, and I enjoy doing it,” said Weaver of Penn Township, who learned last winter to craft with the tabs.

The 62-year-old 4-H leader is completing her fifth purse, created by overlapping rows of the tabs and using nylon twine to connect them with single crochet and chain stitches.

One such purse earned Weaver a second-place finish this year in the Big Butler Fair's needlework category.

Although Weaver doesn't buy her tabs, a 3,000-tab bag would last awhile, since her chosen pattern requires 543 tabs total: 374 for the pouch, 112 for the flap and 57 for the handle. Her supplies include a Size 0 crochet hook and nylon Size 18 thread, sold in 150-yard spools that exceed what's needed to make one bag.

When complete, Weaver sews a cloth lining into the bag and adheres a magnetic clasp to the flap.

Although Weaver doesn't count the hours it takes to assemble the purses while watching TV or riding in the car, the projects do take time.

“I could probably make one in two or three days if I did nothing else,” she said, noting part of the process includes washing the tabs to minimize the black tarnish left on her hands by the alloy.

While spending the winter in Florida, Weaver meets with a crafters group, which figured out a pattern based on a purse they had seen.

She also expanded her activity to include working with aluminum cans. A Christmas tree made from stacked cans earned Weaver first place at the fair in a category for items made from trash.

Although a somewhat uncommon practice, crafting with tabs as well as cans has been around for decades.

Author Alice Lund of Henderson, Nev., has written about the pastime since 2001, authoring e-books called “Crafting Aluminum Art,” “Foiling Around” and “Keeping Tabs.”

Originally from Canada, Lund's work was featured in 2007 The Canadian Farmer's Almanac and in an HGTV holiday special that Lund said still airs at Christmas.

Although Weaver crochets the tabs together, as a noncrocheter Lund devised a method of connecting the tabs by clipping and bending.

“It makes really pretty chain maille,” she said.

She estimates 50 different projects in her “Keeping Tabs” book and 100 to 150 in the books on using cans.

Her sales average about 150 books a year to crafters around the world.

Not a soda drinker herself, Lund purchased tabs from her local Ronald McDonald House, which recycles aluminum tabs as part of its fundraising.

Lund offered the charity double the 50 cents per pound — which equals 1,600 tabs — paid by recycling companies.

Despite her affinity for tabs, Weaver also cited a low consumption of soda.

“I drink a limited amount of diet pop,” she said. “Basically it's (donations) from a lot of my friends.”

For more information on crafting with cans and tabs, contact Weaver through her Circle Round 4-H group at the Butler County Extension office or go to www.aluminouspublish-ing.com. Information on using cans to make planes and other vehicles can be found at tesscar-aluminum-craft.com/.