Christmas Tins Featuring Graphic45

A few years ago I found some mini lunchbox tins at Dollar Tree and have altered them with several different themes. For the last 12 I had I did a Christmas theme using Graphic45 papers that I had picked up on my vacation last year while in Orlando. Some of the papers were punchout sheets and it made it really easy to alter the tin. I had made these for the craft show that Linda and I did and I only sold one of them. People just weren't buying much of anything at the show so I don't feel too bad. I used two for gifts and put some small Bath and Body Works lotion and body wash in them. I will find a use for them along the line.

For this tin I used a daisy punch to make poinsettias and used the branch punch to add some greenery. The black flourish is a piece of a larger design made by Prima Marketing. I bought my first ones at a LSS but I still pick them up sometimes at Hobby Lobby when they are on sale or I have a coupon.

 I used some felt flowers to add embellishing on this one and also some hotfix stones in several areas. I thought the 3 brads at the bottom of the larger punch out image added interest as well.











I wanted to show this one where I added Flower Soft to the wreath on Santa's head. It gives some great dimension and is super easy to use. I used a holly leaf punch and Perfet Pearls to add a little more embellishment to the tin.

My friend Karen and I made handles out of clear and pearl beads since the original handles were white plastic and didn't look well with the theme of the tin. We also added a few feathers and a snowflake charm to the handle.

 

Here is a picture of how I had the tins displayed at the craft show. A few people wanted to know if the Bath and Body Works came with the tin. The Tin was priced at $12 and since the little bottles run about $5 each I couldn't help but look at them like they were crazy and reply "those are for display only".

Candy Recipe Tins

A few years back Stampin Up had some little metal tins in their clearance section and my friend Linda and I were so excited because we thought we could use them as tins for greeting cards. What we didn't realize was the corners were rounded and that made it impossible for A2 size cards to fit in their and we were stuck with the tins. I have used a few for different projects but this year I used 6 to make these nice little candy recipe tins as prizes for the party.

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up Metal Tins
Ranger Alcohol Inks
Various Cardstock
Cricut Expression
Various Cricut Cartridges
Make The Cut Software (MTC)
Design Studio
Various Embellishments

Alcohol Inks were used to color the metal tin. Only the top of the tin lid was decorated with paper. The title on the tin was cut with MTC and I was glad I was able to easily add more than one shadow layer. The candies were images from the internet that I did a pixel trace on and cut with MTC. I cut the candies out of Mica and Bazzil Bling papers to give them a richer look which might not show up well in the picture.

Each tin had a total of 12 candy recipes, all of which I have tried and are my favorites. I did choose the easiest of recipes that I use since I  know some folks aren't candy makers and like to keep things simple.

I know folks are always worried about messing up recipe cards so I included a little plastic sleeve in each tin so the receiver can put the card they are using in the sleeve for protection. I am terrible about making a mess when I am cooking so I know I would appreciate such a gesture. Of course I would appreciate a gesture of never having to cook again a day in my life HA HA HA.

I tried to decorate each recipe according to the theme of the candy, some of them were kinda hard to do such as the Butterscotch Haystacks and Coconut Bonbons. The candy canes were from a cricut cartridge, at least I think they were and the bow on them actually was a bow from a present cut on one of the cartridges. I am quite sure the swirly snowflake border was from a Cricut cartridge. It took quite some time to get all the little snowflakes colored. I cut them all out of white mica and colored with my ProMarkers so I didn't have to cut them all out of different colors of paper.

I did find that just adding some ribbon was a great embellishment and helped hurry up the process of getting cards done. Another HUGE help was my daughter! She put the majority of these together for me while I was at work. At the time she didn't have job and was more than glad to help. She did a wonderful job and has no idea how much appreciated her helping me. She even went through some of my supplies and added Glimmer Mist and other nice little touches she thought of all on her own.

I used quite a few cuts from Lacy Labels for the mats on the cards and did have to do a little manipulating of them to make them fit the area I was wanting. I tried to mix them up and not use all the same mats but a few were repeated.

The biggest problem was making sure I had enough paper to complete a full set of 6 recipe sets that included 12 cards each! Somehow I was able to find enough paper in my stash to complete the task.

I think all the recipients of the candy tins really liked them. Carmen ended up with two somehow but she was nice enough to trade one with someone else. I am not sure what kinda of recipe things I might make for next year but it seems my guests do like those type of items for prizes so I guess I will have to come up with something!

Quick Gift Was Needed!

My cousin Teresa called me at the beginning of the month to let me know that some of my relatives would be descending upon my Aunt Betty's house Labor Day weekend and that my presence was requested. My Aunt Janet and Cousin Lisa would be in from Ohio, Aunt Mary from Texas as well as my sister from Moore, and then Aunt Betty's family. I wasn't sure I would get to make it with the amount of paperwork I was doing, Chuck having football practice and Shiane just having surgery. But luckily it all worked out that we could make it up to Seminole to visit.

While the kids were still sleeping that morning I remembered my Aunt Betty's birthday would be in a few days and I should take her something. A few years back I had altered a little tin and put some notecards in the tin and she loved it. Her house burned down almost two years ago and I figured the tin likely didn't make it through and since I had several little sets of notecards and some tins I thought I would get busy and alter a tin. I then remembered I have never made anything for my Aunt Janet or Aunt Mary and while it wasn't their birthday I figured they would like one as well so I got busy working on 3 tins. I was thrilled when I was able to find the .cut file to use with Design Studio I made years ago so I was able to cut the pieces for covering the tins rather quickly.


Supplies Used:
Metal Lunch Box Tins from Dollar Tree
K & Co. Paper Packs
Ribbon
Flowers
Pearls
Rhinestones
Colorbox Chalk Ink

I got these tins several years ago at Dollar Tree and stocked up on them. I originally used them to put in little bottles of Bath and Body Works lotions and body washes and used as prizes at my Christmas party one year. I hadn't tried these particular ones for notecards but did find out that they don't fit well if they are in the envelope. I was able to take the cards out of the envelopes and put the envies at the bottom and then stack the cards on top.

I think I might need to get busy on making some more notecards and have these on hand for quick gifts for for prizes at this year's party.




I used the punchouts from the paper pack for the decorations on this tin. I didn't have a lot of time so I couldn't embellish as well as I usually do but I figured my aunts would never notice....and they didn't. I did use the Stampin Up bird punch for the leaves behind the flower on the tag and an EK Success photo corner punch around the sentiment on the tag.

I know I used the Life's A Journey pack on this particular tin. The flower is build with some Prima flowers I have in my stash and the pearl added a nice center. I added a little bling flourish for some pizzazz. The little stamp below the flower was from the paper pack as well.

This might have been out of the Life's A Journey pack as well, I just don't remember off the top of my head and I didn't write it down. The tag part didnt show up well on this tin but I think the pearls helped make it look better. The flowers are Prima's that are out of my stash as well.

Aunt Betty, Aunt Mary, Aunt Janet

My aunts loved the tins and notecards. I just hope they use the cards. When I gave one to my Aunt Betty before she said the were too nice to use *okie rolls her eyes* and I told her "AUNT BETTY!! I can always make you more!" *okie laughs remember that Aunt Betty didn't seem very convinced*.


My mom was very close to her sisters and I always feel I have a special bond with my aunts even if I don't seem them often enough!

Altered Dollar Tree Dome Tins

This size tin holds at least 10 heavy embellished A2 cards. They don't lay completely flat but they will fit *okie grins and nods*. I know some people did get these tins and once again...why cut by hand with what can be cut with the Cricut!

I have the file for the baby bug DOME TIN GEO and for the Expression DOME TIN PS. I don't have a video or picture tutorial for these since I am rushing around getting ready for my Christmas party this weekend *okie feels a sense of panic come over her* and I am running out of time!!

But I do have some pictures. The tins were painted with a cheap flat white spray paint and then I used Cat Eye Chalk inks to do the edges. I used dark brown on some and then olive pastel on others. Of course you can use what ever suits your fancy...just thought I would let ya know what I used. I didn't decorate them very much due to time constraints and needing to get them wrapped.

I used K & Company paper packs for all 4 of the tins. I don't remember the names off hand but I LOVE THEM! Maybe not as much as Basic Grey...but pretty close. All the sentiments on the tins are punch outs from the packs.














Here are some that are a little more bright in color. I took a picture of one of them showing the bottom since I do have cuts for the bottom also. Not sure why I thought it had to be covered since it likely won't even be seen....but the cut is there none the less.
















Here you can see how the cards fit in the tins. I hope my guests like them! My cohost this year is my friend Andrea and she picked out cards for the sets. She said she couldn't decided on which cards because she liked them all. She didn't seem upset about not being able to win a prize of these, but then again why would she be when she can go through my card stash anytime she wants! HA HA HA....but seriously.........SHE DOES!

Don't forget to click the pictures if you want to see more detail. I hope you guys can use the files!

Mini Lunchbox Alteration

I am finally getting around to posting the cut files for the Dollar Tree mini lunch boxes! I have the cut file for LUNCHBOX PS, which is set on the 12x12 mat and THE LUNCHBOX GEO, which is set on the 12x6 mat. The mats are labeled according to the cut. You will easily be able to cover a lunch box with one sheet of double sided paper. I wouldn't advise trying to move the cuts around for the rims or sides since it kept giving me the dreaded red X of death! *okie wishes Design Studio would stop that #@%$!*.

What took me so long to post the cut files is that I wanted to do a video tutorial so you guys can see how easy it is to alter these. I really gotta learn to talk faster or work faster one, not sure which. I keep having to edit like 4-5 minutes out of my videos *okie thinks she will just blame it on the director*. Anyway, I hope you guys can use the cut file! It really does make it easier.

Crafty Gift - My final Christmas With The Cricut project

It's Crafty Gift Saturday and this is my final time posting for Christmas With The Cricut. I have enjoyed being a guest designer with Barb aka Snowmanlover and have loved all the projects she has made this week! Make sure you check out her projects also at Snowmanlovers Paperie. I would like to thank the ladies over at CWTC for believing I was talented enough to be a guest designer for their blog.

For my crafty gift I decided to do an altered tin. Ya'll know I love me some altered tins!! This particular one is a Stampin Up skinny tin *okie wonders if anyone else sees a tin and automatically starts thinking of how they can decorate it*.

You will need to click on the picture to see the details better.

The theme I used was Christmas candy recipes and I decided to put "Oh Sweet Christmas" on the outside of the tin. I made a set of 12 recipe cards that go inside the tin.

I once again used the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper line *okie wonders if anyone noticed the theme all week and then laughs at her silly self*.


To cover the tin I cut the paper slightly larger than the measurement of the tin. I then went along as close as I could with my Cutterbee scissors and then followed up with my Basic Grey file kit to sand the paper down to the edge. The font for "Oh Sweet Christmas" is Winter Woodland, as are the snowflakes and branch. I added light blue rhinestones and doodled with a SU marker on the snowflakes. For the branch I used Kaiser flat back pearls for the berries. The dots on the title are done with the Signo UM-153 white gel pen. The inked edges are done with Cat Eye Dark Brown Chalk Ink.



I will be using this as a prize at my Christmas party *okie knew she better keep the recipes simple since she figures only 2 of her guests own candy thermometers*. I found some of my favorite candy recipes and printed them on MS word *okie wonders if anyone is interested in doing this project since she saved the recipes in MS Word* and trimmed to 1/8" from the wording. I used Mini Monograms for the card bases and mats. I used Winter Woodland for the decorative cuts. I didn't get to pop dot as much as I generally do since the tin is not quite 1" thick.

I did get to pop dot on the front though and thank goodness *okie wipes hand across brown*, I sure don't want to go through pop dot withdrawl! I heard it ain't pleasant at all!! You can see the detailing a bit better in this picture also. Don't ya'll just love Kaiser Pearls!?! *okie grins nodding head up and down like an idiot*. I think some maroon pearls might have looked better but I since I didn't have maroon I had to go with what I had, which was the opal color.

There are so many things I can think of to do with these cute little tins!



I want to thank all of you for your support and wonderful comment this week. It has been a joy reading each and every one of them! I was nervous about the video but with all the positive comments I got I think I will probably be making more in the future.

******************UPDATE - FILES AVAILABLE*********************************

I didn't include the .cut file or recipe file at first because I wasn't sure anyone would want to make one of these since I did it specifically for my recipes that I printed and cut. But after some of the comments I received I thought I would make the files available along with a few instructions.

CANDY RECIPE TIN - click to download the .cut file. It uses Winter Woodland and Mini Monograms. The first 2 mats are for reference only for placement ideas. Since the recipes measure differently I made each cut for that specific recipe card. Of course feel free to play with it however you wish. All the other mats are labeled according to what they are. The abbreviations are for the recipes themselves and are follows:

1st mat (do not cut)- Christmas Peppermint Candy, Butterscotch Haystacks, Rocky Road Fudge, White Chocolate Party Mix

2nd mat (do not cut) - Eskimo Snowballs, Easy Oreo Truffles, Rum Balls, No-Cook Divinity

3rd mat - cut 1, it's scallop mats for the card base for the following recipes...Ho Ho Snowballs, Peanut Butter Balls, Coconut BonBons, Kahlua Cocoa Balls

Card base - cut 3
Card mat - cut 2 (the scallop mat finishes out the card mats)

All other mats are labeled by color. Of course you don't have to follow the design with the colors or the specific cuts. Just remember not to make your cuts too big.

Also you won't be able to popdot or embellish too heavy since the tin isn't quite an inch thick. I did minimal decoration on several of the cards to keep the overall thickness down.

EASY CHRISTMAS CANDY RECIPES - click to download the recipes. There are 3 sheets for a count of 12 recipes. You will want to trim the recipes 1/8" from the wording. I used a quilting ruler to do mine.

I hope you guys enjoy making this project! I know it sounds like it might be complicated but it really isn't. HAVE FUN!

Altering tins....

I love to alter objects. I especially like the little lunch box tins. Last year I did some at Christmas as prizes for my Annual Girlfriend Christmas party, they were a hit! I had put some little travel Bath & Body Works stuff in them. I made one not long ago for my aunt and put notecards in it and gave it to her for her birthday. I have been looking for more but couldn't find any. Well I found them online for like $4 or $5...which I do not want to pay!

Today I had a few extra minutes between clients and ran into Dollar Tree to look for something...I didn't find what I was looking for but I did find tins!! I was so excited! I bought quite a few since I do love them and love to do them for gifts.

So if you are in search of tins you might check your Dollar Tree!

Here are the tins. I have I think 8 A2 size cards in the dome one and 12 little note cards in the mini lunch pail one. I can't wait to alter these! To make things easier I will make a pattern out of heavy cardstock so I don't have to measure every time I want to alter one. I can't decide if I need to spray paint them or not. Today it is too windy to spray paint so I will have to do it without spray painting.


Here is a picture of them open and with the cards in them.

Note Card Set

of 72...that is right...a total of 72 note cards is what I made! As most of ya know I can't just make one of a card, I would rather make 4-6 of a card because to me it just makes sense *okie shrugs*.

I started the note cards as an idea for a birthday gift for a family member and then I thought "dang I will need prizes for my annual Girlfriend Christmas Party so I might as well make some for that". So I did.

Here is the little tin I altered to put the note cards in. Not all the sets have a tin, just one very special set and I can't say who it is for since they might read my blog and it would ruin the surprise. I used a small Tim Holtz tin and I wish I had about 2 dozen more of these but sadly this was my last one! I used a chipboard swirl and covered it with paper and added some bling to jazz it up a bit. The paper is Fancy Pants and the flowers are prima's. I know the ribbon doesn't look like it matches in the picture...but it does in person *okie things photographs are very strange things sometimes*. And yes I used some stickles!

The note cards measured approximately 5 x 3.5 inches so they fit nicely in the tin as you can see here. I had no problem fitting all 12 in the tin and probably could have fit a few more...but 14 or 15 just doesn't seem as nice as an even dozen...and besides...I was running out of ideas!

If you have problems seeing the cards you can click the pictures to make them bigger.


Set 1 -
In this first set I have "cherry hello", "you are the best" and "thinking of you". The papers were mostly from scraps and vary by company. I used the Stampin Up scallop punches on these. Even the "cherry hello" is an SU punch...it is called word window. The little cherry stamp is from a Stampedous set as is the sentiment. The sentiments on the other two cards are Studio G's.

Set 2 -
Again I used mostly scraps. The stamps are all Studio G's. The cupcake one is a wood block one *okie knows it will have to be unmounted if it wants to stay in her collection*. I also used some border punches on these. The scallop is Stampin Up, the scallop with dots is Fiskars Threading Water *okie has no idea how ya thread water and thinks it is a ridiculous name for a punch* and the scallop with half circles is a Martha Stewart punch called Apron, I think anyway. The white flower is also a punch, it is EK Success Daisy Whale of a Punch. I double layered the flower and curled the petals slightly for some dimension.

Set 3 -
The "hello" card is probably my least favorite of the bunch. I tried my hand at paper piercing and let me tell you...I NEED MORE PRACTICE! My daughter thought it was just down right ugly! LOL The flowers on the other two cards are from Michaels in the wedding section. A friend of mine sent them to me and I think they are fantastic for little cards. If I remember correctly I think they are about $5 for a little bucket and there is a lot in the bucket! The tag is the Stampin Up tag punch. The pink flower card has the Martha Stewart double lattice punch used on it. I also used the cuttlebug distressed stripes *okie so loves that embossing folder*.

Set 4 -
As you can see there is the card that started it all...the coffee card! It is a My Favorite Things stamp set. The "friends" card has 3 different punches used. I am not sure what the border punch is called but it is a Martha Stewart punch as is the little butterfly. I use that butterfly a lot! The sentiment is the curly label punch. I stamped the image on the green paper and then punched it. I then stamped the image on ivory paper and cut around the oval. The "friends" in the center is from an Inkadinkadoo set I have. Okay WHO DOESN'T LOVE THE LADYBUG CARD?? And if you said "me" then you can leave my blog now! *okie gives mean dirty looks at the crowd lookin for anyone who doesn't love the ladybug card*. My friend ScrapperDelighted sent me a couple of sheets of that ladybug paper and I knew I had to use it! The ribbon came from the LSS that closed down last year. I used several circle punches for the sentiment to acheive the effect I got *okie makes it sound like she planned it the way it looks when in reality she just couldn't decide on what to do and kept punch paper*. The little sentiment is a Studio G stamp.

So as you can see I have been busy afterall! Just too dang lazy to take pictures of each one individually since they are considered a set! LOL

Do you recyle?

I DO! Okay with finding stuff to papercraft with anyway! I found some boxes today when I was looking in my gift wrap/box cabinet. They are like cardboard with one side of smooth paper missing. They are the collapsible kind of boxes that gift stores use. I found them at Walls Bargain Center for a dime a piece years ago. I remember the LSS having some of this stuff and it was like 6 bucks for 5 small sheets and thought to myself "HEY! I CAN USE THOSE FOR SOMETHING!"

Then I thought about the tins I am altering and thought I would try some of the paper on it. I LOVE IT!! I used some Prima Hydrangea flowers and some Kaiser pearls. The pictures and wording are from a K & Company pack that had punchouts. The beautiful ribbon is some that my friend Theresa from the cricut MB sent me.

I KNOW I KNOW

I should have worked on my recipe books tonight.........but I didn't *okie sighs at self*. I had gotten a bunch of small Tim Holtz tins from the scrapbook store a few months back and have decided to alter some of them for prizes at my Christmas party. I am going to put some little Bath and Body Works stuff in them.

I used a K & Company paper on this.....raise your hand if you are surprised! HA HA HA. The flowers are Prima's and yes....you do see stickles!!