How to snazz up an altoids container

Arrgumph.  I had this all typed out and lost the whole thing in cyberspace....oh well.  Here goes again.

So, many of you might have altoids, sucrets, and other handy little tins lying around the house.  I have a special affection for these tins.  The reason is...they can survive a fire and protect the contents inside. 

In December my family suffered a house fire.  I lost *gasp* almost all of my craft supplies, including my sewing machine.  It was heartbreaking, and I felt a deep sense of loss.  I thank God everyday it was a "fixable" problem, and that nobody was hurt.  Nonetheless, the important fact is that the things I had in various altoids and sucrets tins survived the fire just fine.  I opened up the charred tins and, wham!  My buttons were unscathed.  Some of the really flimsy plastic ones were a tad melted....but other than that they were fine! 


So since I have a super long day on Thursdays between teaching seventh grade during the day, and teaching alternative high school biology at night...I figured I would put up this simple little project that I have been working on.

Step One: Paint your tin using acrylic paint.  I chose a nice honeysuckle pink, since apparently that will be the "color of the year" for 2011.  I'm lying.  I chose it because I liked the pink and then later saw a blog post about the honeysuckle.  Make sure you let it dry for a long time between coats.  If your making a few at a time, employ the "assembly line" method.  Paint them all at once, then let them dry for a few hours.

Step Two:  Choose your scrapbook paper, or you could use magazines, etc.  Trace the lid onto the back of the paper, and glue it on using a nice glue.  I love my Aleene's tacky glue.  I painted it on to both the lid and the paper, and I put some weight on it to let it dry.

Step Three: Using a craft knife, cut around the edges.  Make sure you don't have any sort of a paper overhang.  I like to use the cheap, hardware store, snap off utility knifes.  I have always used them since I tend to lose things, and I like their retractable feature (which the exacto doesn't have).

Step Four:  Apply Mod Podge all over.  Let it dry.  You can apply several coats. 

can you tell my son took this picture? Actually, he took like six, and this was the best of the worst!

Step Five: Add some glossy accents to the top.  It gives a nice shiny finish, and protects the top.  It can be found in the stamp aisle....I used a brush to give it some depth.

Step Six: Store your trinkets in the cute little box...that way they can be protected from fire, etc;)

Jeans and a sweater...how many things can I make out of them without sewing?

I used this to audition for One Month to Win it!!

Ok, so everybody at work knows I LOVE to repurpose old clothing.  So one friend gave me a pair of ripped jeans (ripped in the crotch...so not patchable unless you want to look ridiculous) and another gave me a sweater she had lost interest in.  So, I looked at my MESSY craft area and decided I needed to make some containers to store things in/organize without breaking the bank.  So here is what I have come up with so far.

Jean leg button container:

Materials:
pair of jeans
glue gun/glue sticks
scissors
marking chalk/pencil
snap
fabric scraps/ribbon
button

Step One: Fit the leg of the pants over the coffee can and measure the length of the can.  Cut the leg off where you marked, make sure you have allowed some room for a "seam allowance" so you can tuck under the raw edges.















Step Two: Fit the can inside the leg, with the bottom of the leg at the bottom of the can.  Tuck under the raw edge and hot glue it into place.






















Step Three:

Hot glue the ribbon of your choice over the top edge.

Step Four:

Take your scraps of fabric, and using a circle and cut out three circles of fabric.  This fabric flower will be used to decorate the container.

Step Five: Cut six slits 2/3 in and around the exterior of the circle, leaving it attached in the center!

Step Six: Round off each of the petals individually.

Step Seven, stagger and stack your three flower pieces, placing your "favorite" on top.  In between each stack put a dab of hot glue, and pinch the flower inward to give it a little dimension.

Step Eight: Glue a button or two to the center, and glue the flower to the container, I chose to center it on the seam.

Step Nine: I am using this to store buttons, and now that I have added all of this extra fabric, etc...there is no way the lid will fit back on.  So, I had to improvise.  I started by cutting one of the back pockets off of the jeans.  Sorry I was cutting with one hand and photographing with the other...dangerous I know, but it ended up blurry as a result...

Step Ten:  I used a snap, but you could use a tab/loop or any closure you would like.  to keep it no-sew I hot glued the male end to the can and the female end to the tip of the pocket.

Step Eleven: Snap it on, and then stretch the pocket over the top of the can.  Hot glue the edges to the back.  I did each corner first, then gathered the slack in the center and voila! Lid is on.

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Step Twelve: Turn it right side up...fill it...and snap it!

I know, it's sideways, and I tried to flip it...but computer not cooperating!

My buttons are happy now;)

Work of Art #2: Jeans and Sweater Storage Box

So, for my second project, I decided to utilize a good, sturdy shoebox I had.  I used a lightweight sweater, hot glue, a button, and the rest of the jeans...well not ALL of it!

Step One: Cut the Backside of the jeans off, make sure the piece is at least large enough to cover the top of the lid.  It would be even better if it covered the edges too...but mine didn't.  

Step Two: Set that piece aside, and cut along the seam to open up the leg (this is only if you don't have enough butt to cover the edges...you will see what I am doing;)

 Cut two long strips--they need to be twice the width of the box lid edge.  I used the seams as finished edges, look below to see what I mean.  Then hot glue the edges to the lid of the box.

Step Three:  Continue hot  gluing each piece around the entire box.  Then glue the top edge so that it sticks, and overlap the lid and glue it down so that it is going to be covered when you add the "butt" to the top.

see how I am gluing it to the TOP of the box too?  I want it to overlap in the end.

Step Four: After you have the edges covered, it's time to put the top on...so position it on top and you are going to tuck under the raw edges and hot glue them in place.

Step Five: Prepare the sweater to line the box.  Cut off the sleeves and cut along one seam to make a flat sheet of fabric.

Step Six: Hot glue the edges of the sweater into the inside edge of the box.  It won't be perfect...well mine wasn't.  Just as long as it covers the edge...I really stretched and pulled the fabric to get a snug fit.  

Step Seven: Take the rest of the fabric and cut it so the edges are straight.  Then I just laid it inside the box and hot glued the edges to the top, as neatly as I could to make a liner.

Step Eight: I had to make a flower, so I cut a strip of sweater leftovers about 2" wide.  

Step Nine: Using hot glue, glue and gather the bottom edge.  Work the fabric into a simple flower.

I added a button center and glued the whole thing on near the pocket.

TA DAH!  It's not perfect, but it's definitely going to be a cute organizational tool for my sewing stuff!!

And...this pair of jeans and sweater have more coming from them...Maybe tomorrow after we visit the Great-Nana;)

And I promised...so I am going to deliver.  Here is the plethora of storage containers I made.  The base objects are 3 coffee cans, 2 shoe boxes, an oatmeal container, and one thread container.