Tutorial: Altered Tins

I have a mini stockpile of tins in my craft room begging for attention.  In an effort to ditch all the plastic bins for greener options, I have decided to alter the tins with decorative paper so I can use them as storage for all my crafty bits.  You can use anything from Altoid tins to larger cookie or popcorn tins for this project.  Around the holidays there tends to be a lot of products packaged in tin containers.  I am going to use two tins from a pair of sunglasses and a watch.  

When it comes to altered tins, there aren’t any rules.  You can paint them, draw on them, glue stuff to them… what ever you desire.  Today I wanted to share an easy tutorial for altering tins with paper to make simple decorative storage containers.

Supplies:

• Tin container
• Decorative Paper (I used scrapbook paper from the Amy Butler Lotus Collection)
• Glue (I like Yes! Paste or try EcoGlue)
• Bone Folder
• Tape Measure
• Paper Cutter or scissors
• Labels (optional)

Step by Step:

1. Measure the body height of your tin.  For the sunglass case I am covering with a hinged lid, I measured from the bottom edge of the closed lid to the metal lip at the bottom of the case.  This leaves some exposed area at the top where the lid closes, so I chose paper that closely matched the original colors on the tin.  For the watch tin with a removable lid and no metal lip at the bottom, I measured from the top edge all the way to the bottom.
2. Measure the circumference of your tin.  If the measurement is larger than width of your paper follow the instructions in parentheses on the next two steps.
3. Cut your decorative paper height to the exact height of the tin and width to the circumference of the tin plus 1/4 inch.  (If the circumference is greater than the width of your paper, then cut two pieces of paper; the first should be the height x 1/2 the circumference and the second should be the height x 1/2 the circumference plus 1/2 inch)
4. Apply glue to the backside of your decorative paper.  Apply glue around the top and bottom edges of the tin.  
5. Carefully wrap the paper around your tin.  The paper will overlap about 1/4 inch at the seam.  Make sure the seam ends up on the back or side of your tin.  (Apply the first piece of paper to the back of the tin wrapping half way around each side.  Apply the second piece to the front of the tin wrapping around the sides and overlapping the back paper by 1/4 inch on each side.  This will leave you with a seam on each side of your tin.)
6. Use the edge of a bone folder to smooth the paper onto the tin, making sure there are no air bubbles or wrinkles.
7. Cover the lids.  On the sunglass case I liked the metal look of the lid, but I wanted to cover the logo.  I cut a flower shape from the same decorative paper I used for the body and glued it over the logo (see the photo below).  For the watch case, I needed to cover the entire lid.  I used a contrasting decorative paper for the lid.  To get the exact shape of the lid I put the paper over the lid and used a bone folder to burnish the outline onto the paper (you can just see the shape of the burnished lid in the picture above).  I carefully cut out the shape with scissors and glued it to the lid.  I chose papers that went well with the edges of the lid that remained exposed.
8. Embellish your tins however your like.  I added a chipboard label to the front of each tin, so once I decide what to keep in them I can label the contents.

[Images by Jackie Hernandez]