Do you remember our Ten Ways to Repurpose an Altoids Tin post? Well, here’s one more way to repurpose an Altoids tin– a business card holder! I saw the idea from Shannon at Madigan Made and immediately thought of my friend Crystal. She has business cards for her music ministry, but they always get lost or bent in her purse. If you have this same problem, or know someone who does, whip up this super easy business card holder!
What You Will Need:
1. Altoids Tin
2. Sheet Music or other recycled paper (book pages, magazine pages, etc)
3. Glue. If you can, use eco-glue!
4. Water
5. Permanent marker
How To Do It:
1. Clean your Altoids tin.
2. Cut or tear your sheet music (or other recycled paper) into small strips.
3. Mix your glue with a little bit of water. I always make it the consistency of soup– not too thick, but not too watery.
4. With your glue/water mixture, glue your paper strips onto the tin.
5. I chose to fold the paper around the inside edges of the tin, but you can also use a razor blade if you want a clean edge.
6. Trace the tin can on a separate page of sheet music. Then, cut it out. I simply placed mine inside the top of the Altoids tin and it stayed perfectly. If you want to glue or tape it to the top of the tin, though, you can.
7. Once everything dries, you can add writing or a logo, if desired. Crystal wrote her initials on hers with a permanent marker:
Now, Crystal can pull out her handy business card holder in a flash! No more fumbling around in her wallet or giving out crushed business cards! Remember, business cards aren’t exactly eco-friendly, so consider making your own Recycled Business Cards Using Your Sewing Machine, or ordering from companies like UPrinting.
These are so cute and I hope you don’t mind but I Pinned it to refer to later
You’re always welcome to pin CAGW projects. Share away! 🙂
Thank you for posting this! I need a business card holder and wanted something that had recycled content. I couldn’t find anything that fit the bill. Your idea is brilliant because reuse is even better that buying recycled.
This looks great! My fall craft fair season is just about to start and I could use a crafty way to store and display my business cards. Thanks!
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I just tried my business cards in an altoid tin and they were too big. The cards are from Vistaprint, which is what the ones you displayed look like they came from. Did you/your friend trim the cards down to fit the tin or did they just fit?
Why do you mix the glue with water? I have modpodge; should I mix it with water?
Straight white glue is too thick for decoupage. Mod Podge, which is designed for decoupage, is the correct consistency and shouldn’t be mixed, but if you’re using any other glue, you should thin it down with water so that it spreads more easily into the thin layers desired for decoupage.