Good job--great idea for a guy gift too, I think guys are always hard to buy for. I looked at cans at Lowes the other day and they are about $5.00 each now. Remember when they were less than $3.

Should be able to take a flat-head screw driver and wedge it under the ring. Pry it up and it should pop right off. It's not reuseable, serves no purpose other than shipping so no worries about damaging the ring. I tried pinching it with pliers before to pull it off and that did not work for me. Had the most luck with a screw driver or 5-n-1 tool.

Some colors require more additive than others. Gallons have been short for years because of that.

I remember years ago, my Ben Moore dealer told me they could make any color up into aerosol cans. Do you by chance have an air compressor? If you do, you buy a pretty inexpensive paint sprayer to work with it, and use any paint you want. I just did my wicker this way, and it was fabulous. You just pour the paint into the plastic holder, cannot the hose to the compressor, and away you go. It's a snap to clean up, because paint doesn't run through the hose. Just air does. So you just clean out the plastic holder, and the nozzle attached to it, and you're done. Here is a link that might be useful: Very similar to the one I have