Daily Special - Anything But Cards - Altered Square Tin

Good morning! To get out of my creative funk, I decided to create a post-it note holder using a square tin container. I bought a bulk of empty cigarette tin from Ebay to alter. The tins were very cheap and are great for altering. The tins are 3 1/2 x 3 1/4". I was going to bid on a bunch of empty Altoid tins but decided not to until I used the square tins. I bought these tins about 4 months ago and did not create any projects with them until now.

I was a little lazy so I just decided to just insert a square Post-it Note pad. My intention was to create an accordion card to insert into the tin but decided the Post-it Note pad was a great insert because it fit perfectly. You can find a lot of great deals on empty used tins on Ebay. Considering a brand new tin at scrapbook stores of this size can run up to $5.00 each which I find to be absolutely ridiculous.

Because the tin had writing on it, I painted the sides using acrylic paint to cover it up. I then covered the top with scrapbook paper and the edge of the cover with ribbon. I like how it turned out. It's motivated me to make a few more of them. Next time I'll create a small brag book and maybe an accordion card to insert in the tin.



I bought a few packages of rhinestones. . .very cheap ones with no sticky backs. You need to use clear glue to attach them to your card. Forget rhinestone brads. . .sheesh, a pack of 10 brads can run close to $4.00 which is just way too expensive for my taste. It's ridiculous when the rhinestone cost more than the rest of the materials needed to create the card. I found a few packs of rhinestones at Walmart and JoAnns that were on clearance and have been using them to embellish my flowers. It adds a bit of bling-bling to the flower. . .I love them! A pack of over 200 rhinestones run about $3.00 to $5.00. Now that's what I call a deal.

If I had any advise when it comes to rubber stamping and card making. . .don't get sucked in to the hype of specific brand name products. Many times people promote a product that they are associated with and in truth, you can find alternative products that are less costly and just as beautiful. I do buy certain brand name products when I know I can't find an alternative or of similar quality.

The stamp set used for the cards and the tin is by Autumn Leaves - "Word Flourishes" and "Doodle Bloom" which are sold at Target and Walmart. These stamp sets are beautiful. They're clear acrylic and a set run between $9.99 to $12.99.

The colors combo is Green Galore and Pixie Pink for the card and for the tin I used More Mustard and Pixie Pink. The scrapbook papers are by DCWV.

Until later. . .