Altered Tin- Business Card Holder

I’ve been carrying an empty mint tin in my bag for months, trying to think of something crafty to do with it.  I already use one for my echinaccea and vitamin c and another for earring bits, beads and buttons (because you never know).  It finally occurred to me that I should keep my business cards in one too.  Great!  I ran to see if they fit – almost, but not quite.  Easy fix.  Used my corner cutters and–voila!–perfect fit.  Now to decorate.

Here’s what I did:

You’ll need-
Newman’s mint tin (which has a flat top surface)
Paper Modge Podge
Paint brush
Paper ( I used an old map)
Decorated piece of canvas or paper
Brads
Double sided adhesive sheet
Sharp, pointy scissors
Ribbon

1. Pop the lid off and sand with a bit with fine sandpaper, clean.

2. Decoupage small pieces of paper around the sides and edges of the lid with modge podge- small, thin pieces are crucial for getting around the curved corner edges. Be very generous with the modge podge.

3. Decorate a piece of canvas or paper for the top center piece.  I painted onto a small piece of cotton canvas, stamping and adding text from an old book, arranging some words to create my own message.

4.  Cut a piece of double sided adhesive to fit the back of your decorated piece. Stick into place onto the tin lid (make sure decoupage is dry first).

5.  Using the sharp point of some scissors, CAREFULLY poke holes through the four corners of your decorated center piece.  The tin is thin and fairly easy to poke through.

6.  Re-attach lid onto tin.

7.  Fit brads through the holes and adjust on the back side of the tin.

8.  Cut a small piece of ribbon for the bottom of the tin.  Cut a small square of double sided adhesive, the width of the ribbon.  Adhere to the end of the ribbon, then place the sticky end of the ribbon to the inside, back side of the tin (see photo above).

I really like how it turned out.  Now my cards are protected from spilled drinks, smeared lip gloss, pencil marks, and all thing messy that end up in my bag.

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22 Responses to Altered Tin- Business Card Holder

  1. anastasia says:

    everyone’s reading Twilight these days! haha
    i have a few tins saved just for this kind of project – something to try this year!!

  2. amy says:

    Clever, clever, clever! I’m glad to find out about Newman’s mints too…Altoids totally bummed me out when they came out with the embossed tins.

  3. Nerissa says:

    You are genious! Thanks for the tutorial
    Nerissa

  4. Rosina says:

    Oh my goodness I am totally in love with your business cards! Those are sooo cute 🙂 Great little tutorial to 🙂

  5. Jessica says:

    I love this idea! The ribbon is so smart – I never would’ve thought of that. I reluctantly started reading Twilight the week before last… and read all 4 books in 4 days. Such is life.

  6. Femke says:

    Wow what a beautiful business cards!!

  7. Femke says:

    Wow what a beautiful business cards! I love them!!!

  8. Kari says:

    Ahhh… you’re getting sucked in to the book series. Be sure to have the next book on hand. I finished Twilight on a Saturday morning, and couldn’t get New Moon until Monday. There was some serious withdrawal happening.

  9. kristie says:

    i’m starting the 3rd book in the twilight series very soon. they are quite the time suck as i can spend 2 whole days just reading and doing nothing else.

    very clever reuse of the mint tin! i have a bazillion altoid ones sitting around…hmmm…

  10. Charli says:

    I just finished the last one last week! I too was putting off reading them for some reason, but once I got started I couldn’t stop!

  11. bruce says:

    I wouldn’t keep ammo in there…

  12. Taryn says:

    It turned out great!! You’re so smart. :0)

  13. JenJen says:

    That is so cute! I love it!!!

    Jen

  14. Magpie Sue says:

    Wow, this is so cool! I would *so* make one for myself if I could :- )

  15. Rachel says:

    Oh how fun! This is a great project-I’ll be linking!

  16. What a wonderful idea! So much more artistic than regular business card holders! Love the ribbon card lifter… excellent touch!

  17. Jennifer says:

    What a terrific idea! Thanks for sharing.

  18. emily says:

    Just found your blog via “one pretty thing” and love love love it! I made a business card tin a while back but I really like the idea of the ribbon inside, totally makes sense! I was struggling to get the cards out easily!

  19. Kate says:

    This looks really great. My mom kind of does craft-stuff like this too. Nice job on this 🙂

  20. Iraklis says:

    How brilliant idea! Congrats for the post and for sharing it with others! I would appreciate very much a visit from you at my new blog about business cards!

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