31 Spook Street

Spooky season is here! Let's visit one of the houses on Spook Street, number 31. I love the new Houses and Tombstones set from Alpha Stamps; they inspired me to make this tin. The houses are perfect for a scary facade on an Altoid's sized tin, especially if you add in some Tiny Scalloped Shingles and the Mini Window for Haunted Houses (for this project, I trimmed the six pane windows down to 4 panes). I cut a door out of the "Signage & Doors for Tin Covers" collage sheet, and used some foam tape raise it up a bit from the house. The stones on the house are made from a cardboard egg carton, painted and cut up, then glued down individually onto the house facade. A full tutorial for this technique can be found here. 

 

 

It's obvious that the spooky family in this house has been getting ready for Halloween: they have carved some jack o'lanterns, and invited a little rat friend to come visit. A skeleton waves from the roofline, and a bat has fluttered by to check out the fun. Inside, a friendly ghost announces a fun spook party, and you're invited! Hooray for Halloween!

Let's trick or treat! While the ghost on the left is glued to the top of the inside of the tin and is flat, the elements on the right are layered with different heights of foam tape, giving lots of dimension, which unfortunately does not show well in photographs. 

When I went to attach the facade to the front of the tin, I had to have the tin lean a little in order for it to stand up on its own. From the side, it looks like this:

 

I hope you enjoy this spooky little tin. New to altering tins? Here's a tutorial on how I do mine. Happy Halloween! For a complete list of supplies, click here!

 

City's Superior Snake Venom Stand

Well, it's certainly been a while since I last posted. Thanks for dropping back in; you know I couldn't go through a Halloween season without making something! Here's a quick altered tin that was fun to make. Welcome to City's Superior Snake Venom Stand, where many of your Halloween necessities can be found. There are pumpkins, skulls, and various potions. And don't forget those green jars of snake venom!

Most of the supplies used for this tin came from Alpha Stamps: all the jars and labels, the skulls, the pumpkins, and the jack o' lantern. Plus, that fun little shelf that fits right in the tin. I covered the entire tin with scrapbook paper, and added the shelf. It's perfect for displaying all those spooky jars. 

The little pumpkin headed girl was inspired by one made by the marvelous Bella Ayers of Alpha Stamps (her tutorial can be found he. I painted a spooky face on a styrofoam pumpkin, and made a body using an armature of pipe cleaners covered with tape and painted white, with black stripy legs. Her skirt is made from a faux flower, with a ribbon belt. Bella posted a great tutorial for making the doll here.

I didn't glue any of the merchandise down in this shop, so things can be moved around and added later just for fun. For a list of supplies, click here. Happy Halloween!

 

Cheers, Marie! Altered Altoids Tin

I'm not sure if anyone was drinking Cosmopolitans back in Marie Antionnette's day, but I'm pretty sure that if they were, Marie would have been a huge Cosmo fan. I know I am! In fact, we've made a dedicated Cosmo party shelf in our kitchen, where our martini glasses, the shaker, and a little container of  rim sugar are kept. It also includes some Cosmo artwork; some by me, some by my friends. When I got this month's kit from Alpha Stamps, all the pink reminded me of that shelf, and I decided to let Marie enjoy a Cosmo, at long last. Cheers, Marie!

I removed the cover of the tin, and covered the inside with some gorgeous pink floral paper, plus some black and white harlequin paper from my stash. I found a gold dollhouse frame which was the perfect size to frame a quote featured on some of that kit paper, which reads, "Life is nothing without passion". Ain't that the truth?

The outsides of the tin are also covered harlequin paper, and then adorned with some gold Dresden trim. A string of little red beads sits atop the rim. In the photo below, you can see that Marie's yellow overdress overlaps her pink skirt a bit. I used two French Ballet Costumes collage sheets to achieve this look. I cut the yellow overdress at the "v" of the bodice and glued it only at the waistline of a full image of Marie. A couple of foam tape squares were inserted between the overdress and the skirt to separate the layers. Marie is adhered to the tin with 4 layers of foam tape, so she really stands out.

A gold crown brad was the perfect little topper for the tin. The prongs were easy to fold flat into the base of the crown. A large flat-backed crystal fit perfectly inside the crown and hid the folded prongs. At the angle of the next photo, you can see the stacks of foam tape helping keep Marie front and center.

 

 A few tips on construction:

The Marie from the collage sheet has her arms spread out as if she is dancing. It's a beautiful pose, but it's not conducive to enjoying a drink, nor did her arms allow her to fit inside the tin. Here's how to change her position. In the top half of the image below, there are two identical images of Marie. The left image is the one that will be used in the tin. Her right arm is cut off at the elbow, and her left arm is cut at the shoulder. The duplicate image at the right has already had the overskirt removed. Both its arms are cut at the shoulder. Her wand is removed from the right hand, and her hand is removed from the left arm. When her left arm is hanging down, that hand is not in the correct position. Therefore, I used another image from the same collage sheet, and Marie was given a hand transplant.  When you position this new left arm on Marie, there is a little gap at the shoulder. It's easy to fill that in with a little piece of one of the unused arms. You'll just have to trim it to fit.

The beads aren't tough to adhere to the edge of the tin, but they do require some patience. You will have to really babysit them while the glue dries. It's best to glue only 2 or 3 inches at a time. I use Aleene's Tacky glue. I put it on fairly goopy, but it's invisible when it dries.

While it is drying, you'll need to hold it in place. Those beads are going to want to fall off the lip of that tin. One thing that helped me keep my sanity during this step was to lean the side of the tin up against a flat surface. You'll still have to keep checking it until it's fully dry, but it helps keep the beads in place. Make sure you stop and start your beaded strand in on one of the sides, not at the corners.

For a complete list of supplies, click here! And now, how about a little bonus photo of that Cosmo shelf? Yes, it has party lights.

Five Tiny Tins: Fairies, Mary, and Alice

How sweet are these little 1" by 2" tins? I made a couple shrines with the ones I had, and then begged Leslie at Alpha Stamps to send me at least 5 more. The tins come with a sliding lid, and I still plan to try a design incorporating the lid, but for now: tiny shrines. I started out making little fairy shrines. The backs of the tins are covered in scrapbook paper. Tiny wings from a collage sheet are added to create fairies, who dance on beds of moss amongst the smallest of mushrooms, made from floral stamens.

Here's a quick photo for scale. Adorable! 

 

All the fairies are attached with small pieces of foam tape to add dimension. This first fairy is friends with a lucky ladybug. Her crown is made from a sequin star, cut in half and glued together points up. For link to the supplies used for this tin, click here. A full list of supplies for all the tins is at the end of this post. 

 

Several of the tins have half-round toppers on them. I used a wide pair of pliers to gently bend round medallions in half. The pieces I used were very easy to bend. Just grip the medallion where you want to bend it, and push to fold. The flat side can then be glued to the top of the tin with E6000 glue. 

The ballerina fairy has caught a falling star. Make a wish! The word "wish" was cut from an old dictionary. I found a picture of a tiny flower and cut out two petals to glue on her back for wings. Supplies can be found here. 

 

 

I didn't want to use only half of the star for this next shrine, so I used some Apoxie Sculpt to adhere it to the top of the tin. Extra sequin stars add a little sparkle. This gentleman's supplies can be found here. 

 

 

 

Of course I also needed to make a shrine for Mary. After gluing the paper to the back of the tin, I covered the sides with beautiful glass glitter, plus some more sequin stars. I used two images of Mary for this shrine; the entire image is glued to the back of the tin, and then Mary alone was cut from the second image, and stuck on with foam tape. I did not like the way the medallion on top of this tin had a hole in it (see picture above where it's getting bent with pliers) so I added a metal rose to cover the hole. Mary deserves a little extra bling anyway. Here's your supply link! 

 

 

I have had this adorable White Rabbit charm (from Alice in Wonderland) for a while. I finally found the perfect home for him! I removed his hanging loop with wire snippers. Using some Alice themed scrapbook paper, I covered the back and the sides of this tin. Then all that was needed was a little moss, some polymer clay playing cards, and a tiny teacup on the top. The heart was painted on with a small detail brush and acrylic paints. Supplies for this tin (including that rabbit!) can be found here.

 

 

 

I really enjoyed making these little tins. The projects were quick and relatively easy. Placing the stamen mushrooms was a little tricky, but once you cut them to the desired height and run the stems through some glue, they stick easily. I often used a toothpick to straighten them up once they were inserted into the moss; it can be difficult to stick a finger in such a little space! Finished tins can be hung up with removable mounting putty or glued to small magnets. They don't stand on their own, but it would be easy to mount them on a medallion or small block of wood if you want to display them on a flat surface.

 

For a list of supplies used on all the tiny tins, click here. 

Ghosts in the Graveyard Altered Tin

Watch out for ghosts in the graveyard! I used an Altoids-sized tin with the lid removed to make some tiny Halloween fun. An insert from Alpha Stamps' new Halloween Altoids Tin Inserts set makes a rustic fence and black cat in the foreground of the tin. I painted the insert orange, black and grey, and then added texture to the fence with colored pencils. I used a white colored pencil to outline the edges of the cat to make it pop a bit. The seated cat, front right, is acrylic.

 

 

So many ghosts! This paper, from the Halloween Market 6x6 pad, makes the perfect background. After I glued the paper to the inside of the tin, I cut a couple of the ghosts out of the remaining paper and attached them with some foam tape to add some dimension. The tombstones were painted (tutorial at the bottom of the post here; I love painting tombstones!) In checking to see how the tombstones looked behind the insert, I realized that the two shorter tombstones were getting a little lost behind the fence. I set those two stones up on some foam core (painted black) to make them tall enough to be seen.

 

Some curious ghosts were added to the border of the insert, and a small ghost was added with foam tape to the front of the tombstone you see on the right. Some lichen was pushed through the "ground" between the slats of the fence and glued behind. When I tried that smiling jack o'lantern on the top, I knew he would have to stay. This needs a little more orange at the bottom, don't you think? A couple of pumpkins there should do the trick. In this photo, the cat on the fence is not outlined yet, so he's a little hard to see.

Here's that cat with a little white pencil outline; now you see him. A black ribbon trim along the opening of the tin adds texture. Skeleton arms for that Jack; why not?

 

Happy Halloween! For a list of supplies, click here.

Lotsa Rabbits, an Altered Tin

Here's a little project I just threw together while social distancing. I have always loved the alphabet scrapbook paper I used, and wanted to do something with it. I found another nice paper with lots of letters on it that looks pretty good with it, so this little tin came together pretty easily. Once I had it covered, I used images from Alpha Stamp's Vintage Toys collage sheet. (If you purchase the digital version, you can resize the images as necessary.)

Look at all the bunnies!

Here's the inside, currently filled with miniature carrots. How apropos!

I should go through some of my other old scrapbook paper and decorate a few other tins. Alpha Stamps has blank tins for decorating, plus the collage sheet and baby carrots. Click here if you need supplies.

KCTV, Altered Tin, with Tutorial

It's February,  and who's ready for some valentines? Me and Alpha Stamps, that's who! Let's tune in to KCTV (KittyCat TV, of course) for some good old-fashioned Valentine's Day fun. I love the vintage charm of these cheerful kittens; they remind me of my elementary school days, and valentines from my classmates.

The new retro tv, designed for use with Altoids sized tins, is perfect for this sweet kitty scene. And these cats know how to celebrate! Some happy sprinkles make this Valentine's party extra festive. I pulled a few hearts out of the sprinkles for little dimensional accents behind the kitten's heads, and on the front of the television.

Even the back of the tv is full of feline love.

Here's how KCTV was built. After deciding the theme of the program, I first decorated the tin. The cats were all cut out, then layered with foam tape to give dimension. A thick layer of glue was applied to the bottom of the tin, which was then sprinkled with... sprinkles! In the photo below, you can see the speaker vents in the upper corner of the tv. I wanted to preserve those, so I colored that area with a red marker so they will match the red paper that will be used on the front.

 

To cut the paper where the vents will show through, I traced the tv on the wrong side of the paper, and used a pencil to mark where the vents are. I then used an x-acto knife to cut out one hole for the vent area.  I used a red marker to draw around the opening. This will help this area blend in with the red paper. Then, the front of the tv was glued down and cut out along the edges with the x-acto.

Below you can see the finished front of the tv, and the back of the back. I did not put paper on the entirety of the insides of the tv, as the back of each piece won't show once it's fully constructed. The "brass" bottoms of the legs were painted with gold metallic paint, and a silver Sharpie was used for the antenna. A grey Copic marker was used on the red legs to make them look like they're set back a bit from the tv cabinet. I used a red Copic marker around the lip of the tin, in case any showed through once the tv facade was attached. A little bit of the turquoise paper is glued behind the speaker.

Here's how to make sure your tv is sturdy: glue the tin to the front of the tv first. Once that's good and dry, put lots of glue on the back of the tin and sandwich the two parts together. While the glue is wet, use some blocks (or whatever you have handy that will work) to make sure the back and front are exactly lined up. Let dry.

Once it's completely dry, you can add the antennas, paint the knobs and add any other embellishments to the front and call it a day. I did want to add some sides, though. A 12" long piece of the same red scrapbook paper is just enough to go from the outside of one leg, all around the top and other side of the tin, to the outside of the other leg. Cut the paper to the width of the side. I cut a notch in the paper to accommodate the antenna, so I glued the paper at the top of the tv first. Then one side at a time, I glued the paper around the curves. Be patient and hold that paper in place for a bit while it dries! You'll have to trim the paper a bit when it gets to the legs. I went ahead and cut another piece to finish the bottom. That piece was notched for the legs as shown below.

Now sit back and enjoy the show! 💕 For a complete list of supplies, click here.

Vintage Santa Altered Tin

Three years ago, I found a bunch of delightfully creepy vintage Santas at a flea market. They had a whole bowl of them available, but I thought they were a little pricey at $5 apiece. Now of course, I wish I had taken them all. But, I picked out two of the best (worst?) ones to use in craft projects. One, I used immediately, and the other has been hanging around on my desk since. Until now. I finally realized that all he really needed was an Altoids tin.

His outfit probably used to be bright red, but it has really faded out through the years. I was glad I had some Christmas papers with muted colors.

I didn't want to permanently attach him in any way, so I stuck a pin through the background paper and he's just impaled there, much like the way you would display a bug. A little tart tin makes a great base for this piece.

I'm glad I finally gave him a home. He seems happier now. As for his buddy, he still enjoys ringing Christmas in every year on his sleigh.

Pink Flamingos!

I recently participated in an altered tin swap on Craftster.org. My partner listed a few themes she would like, and I thought it would be fun to do pink flamingos. I picked some fun papers and some fun trims and here's what I whipped up.

I found the tiny flamingos on etsy. The were solid pink, so I added a little paint to make them more detailed. I couldn't resist adding glitter around the edge of the tin.

The grass came from a little square of astroturf I've had forever. I just knew that would come in handy some day. And that trim! That and the glitter just add to the kitschy goodness. The stand and the finial were painted and then glazed to make them shiny.

Some kitschy paper on the back, and done!

Dum and Dee, the Tweedles

This month at Alpha Stamps, it's all about Alice. My favorite characters from Alice in Wonderland happen to be the Tweedles, both Dum and Dee. Guess who got star billing on the two works I did this month? 

First, I made an altered tin. I removed the lid before covering the outside with polka dotted paper, and the inside with a beautiful background image from a collage sheet. The outside mushrooms are a chipboard insert. I used colored pencils and Copic markers to paint the mushrooms to match the background. I wanted the largest two mushrooms to extend outside the boundaries of the chipboard, so I painted those two tops separately and then attached the new caps. The white spots on them were added with Gesso.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had on outfits that were fairly muted, so I bumped up the color a bit with Copic markers. Now they look more at home in their bright surroundings. I also used a marker on Alice's hair. After all, blondes have more fun! Look at the sweet little hedgehog peaking out from behind the mushroom in front. He was so adorable that I just had to include him.

Butterflies were folded and glued down the center to make them appear as if they just landed on the edges of the tin. I love that big silver teapot; it's the perfect topper! It really made the piece come together. Silver beads made for little feet for the tin, and echoed the silver of the teapot. In the picture below, you can see that the Tweedles are mounted on foam tape for extra dimension. Alice is also mounted on foam tape so it appears she is actually peaking out from that giant 'shroom.

  

Yes, we're all mad here!

In addition to the altered tin, I made a tiny book box, which also features the Tweedles. I used the same polka dot paper on the exterior, and used washi tape to attach the cover to the sides. Washi tape is pretty, but it's not really sticky enough for a project like this, so I used a thin strip of double stick tape under the washi tape to make sure the cover is on securely.

 

When you open the cover, you find the infamous Queen of Hearts, and a teeny tiny deck of cards.

Remove the cards, and there's Alice, all crammed into too small a space.

Even though they're tiny, that's a full deck of cards. I'm holding them here so you can get a sense of scale:

 Hooray for the Tweedles (and Alice)!

For a complete list of supplies, click here!