What began as Ray Schmidt’s attraction to the colors of Anderson Erickson yogurt lids became roommate Ben Shaffer and Schmidt’s dorm room decoration.

Schmidt, sophomore pre-graphic design, and Shaffer, freshman in civil engineering, have taken lids from yogurt containers and placed nearly 600 on the ceiling of their Helser Hall dorm room bringing color and attention to their room.

This unorthodox room decoration led to Schmidt and Shaffer’s nickname: “the Yogurt Guys.”

“I’m a design student, so the bold colors [of the lids] stood out to me,” Schmidt said. “I thought there had to be something I could do with them.”

The lids were originally collected when Schmidt added yogurt regularly to his meal bundles at Clyde’s before winter break. Shaffer then contributed to the collection as well and began using the lids to line their loft beds.

“I was eating a lot of yogurt then and just held onto the lids,” Schmidt said.

Shaffer said that the number of lids reached a point where they could no longer be used to just line the lofts. That was when the lids began covering the ceiling.

“We started sticking them to the ceiling with sticky tack,” Shaffer said. 

The sticky tack eventually became too costly to purchase, Schmidt said. The cost led Schmidt and Shaffer through a series of alternate adhesives including duct tape and double-sided foam tape.

They discovered that double-sided tape was too expensive and duct tape caused the lids to sag from their placement on the walls and ceiling.

The solution to the problem was then found. Shaffer would hot glue a piece of cardboard under the lid and hand to Schmidt to stick to the ceiling.

Shaffer said that lid order is selected when he shakes a box containing the lids for Schmidt to draw at random. Schmidt said that they draw lids to place to avoid preference or clustering colors.

“Somehow the green ones always wind up near each other,” Schmidt said.

The lids come from various sources: themselves, others and scavenging. Schmidt said that they have approached individuals eating yogurt and asked for their lids.

“About 90 percent of the time people will give us their lids when we ask, and about 10 percent of the time people say no,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said he is unsure why people say no because they will just throw it away afterward.

“We can’t tell them it’s for a record either if they ask why because they will keep asking questions,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer and Schmidt have received some negative attention for their yogurt quest.

“They’ve got their share of haters,” said Luke Schneeman, freshman mechanical engineering. “But I remember that they started with just a few.”

Clyde’s allowed Schmidt and Shaffer to put a collection box for lids near the garbage bins to accrue more lids. The box added about 35 lids that they didn’t ask for Shaffer said.

“I keep my eye out for lids walking around and found one half buried in the ground,” Shaffer said. “I’m not sure who takes the time to bury a lid, but I grabbed it.”

The collection gains a given color by the day Schmidt said because dining facilities on campus tend to carry similarly colored lids. The search has also exposed Shaffer and Schmidt to flavors they haven’t heard of before.

“I knew there was vanilla,” Schmidt said. “But I had no idea there was a vanilla bean.”

Schmidt said that asking for lids has led to some interesting interactions. One example he gave was of the “Trivia Guy.”

“He won’t give us his lid unless we answer a trivia question or riddle,” Schmidt said.

The lid collection has also reached outside of Ames.

“My mom has been saving some lids back home,” said Jake Kottke, sophomore aerospace engineering. “It was strange when I first heard what they [Schmidt and Shaffer] were up to and only had some on the loft, but I saved my lids too.”

Schmidt said that they tried asking Anderson Erickson for lids and sent them pictures of their project.

“They thought it was neat,” Shaffer said. “But they won’t even send us misprints.”

Shaffer said that this project has helped him meet new people. Currently they have nearly 600 lids Shaffer said and they will continue collecting until all the white space is covered. Schmidt said that they have a list of guesses as to how many lids that will take ranging from 1,100 to 1,500.

Schmidt and Shaffer don’t plan on stopping at the end of the school year either. When they move to a house, Schmidt wants to make a mural with the lids.

“I’d like to take all the lids and cover a wall with a pointillist piece,” Schmidt said.