Spring Garden Tin

Spring is popping out all over; the dogwoods and azaleas are blooming and it's just gorgeous here now. This weekend, however, we had nothing but rain, so there was no going out to enjoy the weather. In honor of spring, I made this little fairy garden tin with these gorgeous fairies from an Alpha Stamps collage sheet. At least the fairies can enjoy their weather!

 

Here's a little shot of the side so you can see the pretty green stripes on that G45 paper: 

I have over 50 tins left...

More About the Table

If you've been following along with my table saga, here's our next chapter. The top is completely done, and the slender strips that will separate the parts are made and painted. Kurt worked hard on those strips; they will sit flat and look perfectly square when they're inset into the top, but the bottom and the sides of them are very custom cut and sanded so they fit perfectly.

I painted, inked, and then glazed them to get them to match the legs as closely as possible. I actually left them a lighter than the legs, because the exact match looked too dark for the top. Once they're good and dry, we will hit them with a little spray varnish and then insert them into the table top. Here they are sitting next to a little part of the door I used for color match.

So Funny!

I received my Wicked Circus tin from my Craftster swap partner Killam Creative today, and look at the eerie similarities: we both did a fortune teller theme, we both included a Wheel of Fortune with an actual spinner, and we both used the same exact background paper on the interior of the tin. Too funny!
Mine:

Hers:

They do manage to still look different, though. I love the little dangly sign and the crystal ball on the tiny table. Here's the outside of the tin she sent:

LOVE!

Wicked Circus

My partner in the Wicked Circus swap received the tin I sent her today, so I can now post it here. She likes fortune tellers, so I gave her a bit of a sideshow. Here's the front of the tin, with the ringmaster welcoming you into the Big Top.

Once you open the tin, you are face to face with the Queen of the Fortune Tellers and her amazing Wheel of Fortune and mysterious crystal ball. Watch out for the clowns!

Here's the back of the tent, with the circus posters plastered to the side.

Those pesky clowns are STILL hanging around! My partner's tin should be in the mail today. I hope the Postie gets here soon!

Sew what?

I'm still on an Altoid tin roll. Here's a little sewing themed tin.

Head on version:

I think I'll go alter some more.

Even More Circus

Sadly, my swapper tin did not arrive in the mail today, so you'll have to wait to see what I receive.

Meanwhile, someone in the Wicked Circus swap posted this link, and I loved that little tin so much that I just had to make one of my own. I took one of my embossed Altoid tins and removed the lid, and here you go:

The figures are all stacked using foam glue pads, which gives it a nice 3D look in person. Here's a side view, which shows that effect a little better:

Happy circus! I hope you're not afraid of clowns...

Tiny Circus Tin

I'm currently hosting a "Wicked Circus" tin swap on Craftster.org, and a friend of mine from the site and I decided to do a little private swap on the side and alter tiny tins from Seattle's Best Coffee. These little tins are about half the size of Altoids tins, so they were fun to work with. Here's what I sent her.

 And the inside, with bonus plastic circus animals.

I'm so excited about making circus tins that I started up a new one for me today. I hope I get a chance to finish it up. And I also hope my mailman brings me my tiny tin from amaryllisroze! I'll post it here when it arrives.

What I Made Today

I found a tutorial for making little felted baskets, and I just had to give it a try. I have a bunch of felted sweaters that I've already used to make dozens of felted roses for pins and a patchwork scarf, so I cut up what remained my favorite and made a little basket. I put a cuff on it and added a little lace and a pretty button. Not bad for an hour's work.

I'll probably have to make a few more before it's all said and done.

The Underbelly

I've been working hard on a "Wicked Circus" altered Altoid tin, but I can't post that until I send it out (it's for a Craftster swap). So, I'll have to entertain you with more "in progress" shots of the table. Here's a photo of the bottom of the top of the table. You can see how the cabinet doors were cut and pieced. We attached the new pieces to the routed edge with pocket screws. Activity still to come: routing the border between the parts for the accent strip.

One thing I'm sure Kurt would like me to mention is the incredible amount of bracing he's added to the table. It's gone from a scary wobbly piece of furniture into the sturdy piece it deserves to be. He's so good at what he does. Slowly but surely, it's coming along!

Meanwhile, I'm going to be working on a tiny mint tin today, and sending it off on Monday, so later this week, I can post it here. Happy daylight savings day!

Table Progress

Here's some in progress shots of the top we're constructing for the table I first wrote about here. Kurt was able to remove the large cabinet, and we were left with this. The cabinet was glued down, so as you can see, there was a little collateral damage that occurred during the prying off process.

He cut out the edge, and I did my best to match the paint and crackle finish, resulting in a fairly decent edge (don't forget I like the distress, so I don't want it looking new, which is definitely a bonus in this case!)

We cut down two of the cabinet doors and joined them. They will be the inset of the table top. I had to do a little cosmetic work on the seam, but now it's fairly difficult to tell it's two pieces from a distance. Here's a little preview; the top is not set in to the edge yet. Once we set that in, he's going to route a 1/8th to 1/4th inch groove around the edge of the top, and we'll set in a band of a completely different color. I pick green, to match the legs!

I toyed with the idea of trying to repair the color on the middle part of the edge where it's very light, but I ended up deciding to just leave it be. It's such a large area that I think I'll do more harm than good there. Hopefully there will be more updates soon. Now that we've made such big progress, I'm eager to be finished.

Thumbs Down

Well, I didn't make the call for the Graphic 45 design team, so I guess I'll have to continue to pay to fuel my addiction to their lovely paper. Here's a little ornament I made with their Springtime collection. The tin was some packaging which used to contain metal flowers. The ribbons and beads are from Alpha Stamps.

When you open the lid, a little accordion book folds out, like so:

Here are a few closeups so you can see the details

 

Sorry it didn't work out between us, G45. 

Wooden Spool Ornament

I have several old wooden spools given to me by my mom and grandmothers, and I love to use them in my crafting. I'm going to be sad when they're all gone! I saw this blog post where someone had made little spool poetry. I thought they were so cute! I decided to hang mine, so it could be an ornament. I used a few vintage buttons and a great big ornate head pin from Alpha Stamps. Here's what I came up with. When you unroll it, it says "Eat, Sleep, Make Stuff", which I think are words to live by.