Summarize:

Anodizing works particularly well with aluminum, so, if careful, you can do it at home. Use small aluminum pieces to begin with so that you can submerge it in small quantities of acid.  You can find small aluminum parts for this purpose relatively affordably from most home improvement stores, as well as online. During this process, the part that you are anodizing will function as your anode. Choose a type of plastic that is extremely hard and durable. The exact size of the tub you will need depends on what you're working with, but it should be large enough to hold your metal piece and the aluminum and still have some extra room for the liquids. During the anodizing process, you can dye the metal almost any color using a standard fabric dye. This is the process Apple uses to color iPods.  You can also buy special dye for anodizing that may produce better results. You will need several particular pieces of equipment to anodize at home. Most of these items can be found at your local hardware or home improvement store. These include:   A degreaser product 2 lead cathodes long enough to overhang your plastic bin A roll of aluminum wire Enough distilled water to fill your plastic tub Baking soda Rubber gloves For anodizing, you will need several gallons of sulfuric acid (battery acid), lye, and a constant power supply of at least 20 volts. The battery acid may be hard to find; however, it is usually available at auto parts stores. A large battery charger should work as a constant power supply.
Buy some standard aluminum alloy metal parts. Buy a thick plastic tub to submerge your metal. Find some clothing dye at a local craft store. Purchase the items you need for anodizing. Find places to purchase the hard-to-source supplies.