i am making my guy friend magnetic poetry and am using an altoids tin to put it in. i recently read where someone decoupaged theirs altoid tins. my only problem is i can't find any cool pics that he would like to use. i was thinking of painting it with acrylic paint but wouldn't it scrape off? could i use a spray on top to protect it? does anyone have any other ideas to decorate it? thanks!

spiffy idea! very very good. let's see...i'm pretty sure, paint on metal would work just dandy...using spray paint to protect it would probably be the smartest way to go, but unless he's throwing it on the freeway or stomping on it, chipping shouldn't be that much of a problem. and chipping? aaah! vintage! lol. tell me how it turns out, will you?

ive got a mint tin i'd like to decorate as well. i was thinking about beading it, but im not sure how. i have a small bead loom thats a bit tedious, but weaves beads in a nice sheet, but then i'd have to weave it in just the right shape for the tin. maybe i'll just string the beads and lay them on the tin that way, in a spiral or in concentric squares (?).

hey! what i would do if you want to bead it is string a buncha beads on a thread, then put regular white glue on it in a thin layer. then set the beads on the top neatly in rows and when the glue dries you can pull out the string(or leave it in if you couldnt see it. putting them in a spiral would be really cool, you should try it and tell me how it works out. i also like to decorate those little white cardboard jewelry boxes and they work good for everything.

You might want to ery lightly scuff it up, sanpaper, etc. to make teh paint stick better. Another fun idea is to spray the top with chalkboard paint, and then you can label it with chalk, and chang it depending on what you want to put in.

CHALKBOARD PAINT?!?!! i didnt know there was chalkboard paint!! sweet! and where do you obtain this?

i save a bunch of altoids tins (which doesnt take me long, i have a slight addiction) then take them out to the garage and spray paint them in all different colors...this way you have them ready for whenever an artsy urge strikes...once they're spray painted (somtimes takes more than one coat and be careful-it pools up REALLY easily...you need to do very even thin coats) anyways tho. once they're dry i paint them with acrylics..then just do a clear coat of spray varnish or shellac or whatever you call it on them :) i have one with an anime character on it that i use for bobby pins that i've had for almost two years, and it endured a year or so of traveling all the time for my old job..bumped around, getting way, etc..and there's not a scratch on it. they make very good gifts-picture on the lid and a little quote or note on the bottom. :)

i think gesso would prepare the surface nicely on the metal to prevent chipping. it works on everything else and its pretty cheap. you can usually find it in your glue & goop isle.

i live in england. what are altoids? please tell me!!!!!!!!!

thanx
love
molz

Atoids are super duper breath mints that come in many flavors and always in a nice little tin case.

no way! altoids are from england!

What are you using to make the magnetic poetry? I kind of figure magnets but how are you putting the words on the magnets? Are you decoupaging words and letters on them?
As for the tins you can probably put some kind of shellac over the tin after you paint it or decorate it.

strangly enough i had a magnet roll kinda laying around my house. my dad had gotten it years ago for my mom for a project that she never did. one side is sticky with white paper on it so you put your words on the sticky side and cut em out with sicsors.

I think you could still decoupage the tin, podge on cut out words, that would match with their being magnetic poetry words inside the tin.
For beading a tin, I think the idea of just stringing them is a better one then doing a loom. You would then just glue them on right? You could do some really fun patterns that way. With looming were you going to glue it on, or make it like a kind of a case? You could do some kind of case arrangment with peyote stitch probably.

And as for a Brit not knowing what Altoids are, well, that probably means they have better peppermints there that they are keeping from us, and just sending us the Altoids. It's like the whole Fosters, It's Australian for Beer *NOT*! It's Australian for we sell that crap to the Yanks so we don't have to drink that swill, blech! :)
--jo

i am ditching the loom idea and am going straight for the stringing and gluing. now i wish i didnt get rid of all the mint tins i saved up and gave away when i moved.
im even thinking about adding some funny little miniature figures or something. i found the miniatures section at the craft store today, and i was fascinated by all the weird, tiny everyday items. and theyre all so pricey for being so darn small. strange ...

jo, that is so true & funny about the beer!

they do have good mints in england! theyre like life savers, i think theyre called polos. "the mint with the hole"! haha!

i wanted to do this really bad a couple months ago but i didn't have very many tins and i wanted to market it in a way. the problem is i don't like altoids and they're too spendy to buy it just for the tins. i think i can get something similar at craft stores but they're not as cute as the mini or heart shaped altoids ones. ;) if anyone has any they don't want, e-mail me! yane@hellokitty.com thanks!

~elaine

On this site, she made an altoids tin into a frame.
>http://www.goddessofgarbage.com/archive/feb01.html

cleo ;]

i had purple and black drip candles, and I covered the lid thing...it looked cool, but I gave it to someone so I don't know how it held up.

One great thing to do with an altoids tin is to cover it with polymer clay. If you get a few colors and make cane slices you can have an allover pattern. And you just bake it in your oven. There are lots of tutorials a polymerclayhaven.com

emililly-i've seen chalkboard paint at michael's and other craft stores. maybe it couls also be found at a 'home improvemnt' store. it comes in spray cans and it's super nifty!

wouldn't nail polish work to paint the outside? i've used old nailpolish to paint stuff many times.
*amy*