Decorative Tin – Altoids Tin Upcycling

If you know me (learn about me: https://snwjune.blogspot.com/2020/07/background.html), you know I love Altoids and I love crafting. If you’re like me, you have a few Altoids tins lying around and you’re feeling crafty, so why not make a little decorative tin for a friend or yourself. I make these often and give them as gifts sometimes filled with chocolates or other treats. They make good storage containers for USB drives or other computer memory cards or small items that are important and can be easily lost. You can also use them to hold some band-aids and alcohol wipes for a mini first-aid kit. I’ve also used them to hold jewelry, earplugs, or earbuds when I travel. There are  lots of uses for these boxes and chances are you can make them with things you have around your home.

 Step 1: Gather your materials

You’ll need an Altoids tin, a glue stick (I prefer Elmer’s) a pen or pencil, scissors, a fine paint brush, some scrapbook paper (or wrapping paper or thick decorative paper), patterns, and any other decorations like stickers, buttons, etc.

Decide what theme or style you want for your box. I’m doing a beach theme. I have beach themed scrapbook paper, some tiny shells from a broken necklace, and a picture from the back of a calendar.

I made my patterns for the outside top and bottom by tracing around the tin and adding enough extra around the edges in a square-ish shape to make the sides. And then cut little tabs on each corner to meet the inner tin shape. The inside top and bottom were just from tracing around the outside and trimming it down until I got a pretty good fit. You can reuse these patterns everytime you make tins so I suggest making them out of something sturdy like a cereal box.

Step 2: Wash the Tin

The tin will have some dust from the mints so you’ll need to wash it and dry it. Make sure you dry it thoroughly because it is metal and water could cause it to rust. If you don’t wash you won’t be able to glue the paper in place. 

Step 3: Covering the Outside

 

Now that you have your materials and your theme it’s time to cut out the paper to cover the tin. Take the patterns and trace them onto the scrapbook paper or whatever paper you’re using. I find scrapbook paper works the best but I have used wrapping paper too. Make sure to mark them so you know which is top and which is bottom. Then once you cut out the paper for the outside top and bottom, fold in the sides and use the glue stick to glue the paper in place.

You may have to repeat the gluing and holding on end tabs a few times before the stay. The tabs should overlap a little. I always start with the bottom then when it’s secure I do the top. Make sure there is enough room for the hinges on the back or the tin won’t open properly.

Once the paper is glued on and tabs on the sides are set you can trim the excess on the corners. Then decorate the top with a cute saying or stickers or whatever you like. I used a saying from the same beach themed scrapbook paper. Wait until the outside is dry before moving to the next step.

Step 4: Decorate the inside

Use the scrapbook paper for the top and bottom (note you might need to trim them down to fit inside). You can also cut a strip to cover the inside wall of the bottom tin but I don’t mind leaving that as is. Once you have the top and bottom paper in place you can decorate those as you like, I used a small cut out from the back of a calendar and some small shells from a broken necklace. For the shells I used Tacky glue to secure them and I used a small paint brush to remove the excess glue.

Step 5: Optional! Sealing with Modpodge

 I usually do a sealer coat of Mod Podge because this decoration is just paper and it will serve as a little protection from wear and tear but since it is paper these aren’t meant for rough handling and shouldn’t be exposed to moisture.

Initially the Mod Podge coat might cause the paper to come loose. I use a small paint brush and a little tacky glue to reattach any places that need it. Once the top is dry you can Mod Podge the bottom if you want. I don’t usually do that but you can, however if you do then you don’t want to skip the next step.

Step 6: Feet

 Finally, you can add feet to the bottom of the tin. I use these self-adhesive felt pads but you can use buttons or wooden beads, or whatever you like. You should be sure to do this if you put a coat of Mod Podge on the bottom of the tin otherwise the paper could stick when you place it down in direct contact with surfaces.

Final notes:

The paper around the inside top and bottom of my tin has some rough edges, I don’t mind since I’m keeping this for myself but if you’re giving this as a give you can always hide those with more decorations like glitter or sand for the beach theme, felt, or tissue paper. You just have to be sure whatever you use around the lid still allows the lid to close. There are all kinds of scrapbook paper out there so you can do all kinds of different tins. The internet is full of sites with other decorated tins you can search through for inspiration. Here is the finished tin and some of the others I’ve done. Have fun making your own!