Thursday, October 30, 2014

How to Alter an Altoid Tin

I have a confession to make:  I may be an Altoids tin hoarder. I love them so much. I use them to organize jewelry when I travel, to keep art supplies handy, to make sewing kits and first aid kits and so on.


The date on my Creme de Menthe mints said 2009 -- I told you I was a hoarder! I remember buying the mints because I really liked the green color of the tin.  I recently altered this tin to create a watercolor kit for art journaling on the go. Are you an art journaler?


Here is a simple way to alter an Altoid tin. Start by creating a pattern for the top of the tin, by making a pencil rubbing.


I did not want to wait for paint to dry, or to worry about paint chipping, so I kept the original green color and used alcohol based markers to age the metal and to cover the white areas that I thought might peek through after I decorated the top. Alcohol based markers and inks work really well on metal. You have a little bit of work time, for blending, but it dries fairly fast.


Next, I adhered some scraps of patterned paper to the top, using the rubbing I made as a pattern.


Another, smaller piece of decorative paper was glued on top of the first piece, then the whole thing was sanded and distressed, and got a bit more "antiquing" with my alcohol markers.


The bottom of the tin got some decorative paper, as well. Hint: rubbing alcohol will remove the date stamps.


I adhered a piece of hem tape to the tin to create a pretty tie -- if I ever drop my tin, I would hate for its contents to fly all over the place.


Add a cheery note over the hem tape, to secure it well.


You're done!  This is such a simple way to alter a tin -- you can make them to give as gifts, filled with treats or anything you can think of!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Entertaining in This Imperfect Life: Lessons We've Learned

We live an imperfect life. Pretty much not one thing in our lives is perfect. We have lived through four renovations in the last five years, and two of them are still ongoing, but even before that our lives were imperfect. It's true.


Our family loves to entertain. We love huge back yard cookouts, and intimate game nights and everything in between. For years I pressured myself to make every single party spectacular. Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE to create well-decorated events, but sometimes the pressure to create awesome parties can take away from your own enjoyment.