Craft Tips > Recycled CraftsAugust 22, 2007

Craft ideas for the empty metal mint or candy tins with hinged lids. These ideas were posted from the ThriftyFun community.

Sewing Kit

A great use for these is as a travel sewing kit. Base paint with a couple of coats of craft paint in a neutral shade, Decoupage a theme-base picture like antique sewing machine, needles and spool of thread or if you draw or paint well, do in by hand. Inside put mini spools of thread, packet of assorted needles, assorted pins (both straight and safety) stuck in a piece of felt. Also makes a good mini first aid kit if you add bandaids, healing salve, antiseptic wipes and the like and you could paint it white with the traditional red cross for that use.

By Thriftmeg

Containers for Small Items

Why not paint them and glue little jewels on them for pill boxes. Also you could paint flowers on them. Maybe for little earrings holder, extra change, small candy or hair pins.

By Grandma Bess

Quilting Pins

I use my mint tins,and Sucret tins to keep my various sizes of straight pins in. I label them with my Dymo label maker. On the ones for quilt pins I glued a pin on top for identification. I also use them when I travel to keep my jewelry safe.

I like the idea of decorating them too. I think I will try that.

By Judy

For Sewing Pins

I like to stick a few pieces of magnetic tape to the bottom and use them to hold sewing pins.

By Allison

Travel Toiletries

I use them to carry medicine, fingernail clippers, safety pins, and a band-aid or two. It keeps all of those items from getting lost in your purse and keeps you from being without them in a pinch.

By gapeachinseale

Polymer Clay

I have saved a lot of these and made some pretty nice looking containers covering them with polymer clay. Cover the bottom and top, allowing room around the rim of the box for the lid to snap on. Make roses and secure them on the lid, add pearl for embellishment. You could decorate them to give as gifts, using the recipients favorite things/idea.

For example: if the person you are giving it to likes cats, make polymer clay cats/kittens and add other little items to decorate. Possibilities are endless, and ageless. Then use the tin to hold a gift like jewelry, gift certificate/gift card, candy, etc.

Or make them into little travel checker sets.

By Shirley

Fabric Gift Card Box

I spray painted the bottom, glued a piece of wall paper border to the top, trimmed around the side of the top with ribbon (to hold down the edges of the wall paper border) and put a bow on the top. I then took a tiny scrap of shiny fabric folded around a piece of batting the for the inside to use the tin as a gift card holder.

By Lynn Beth

Gift Card Box

If you do any paper crafting, you could cover them with pretty paper and embellishments and then use them to give with gift cards, small items, etc. inside. I've also seen them used as cards for birthdays, etc. with a little note tucked inside.

By Threegetts

Tiny Scrapbook

They make great holders for tiny scrapbook albums! Just cut your paper a little smaller than the tin is tall and much longer. Fold the paper up accordion style and embellish it any way you wish. It's great for holding wallet size school photos.

By Natalie

Website With Ideas

I like Make magazine, but you can get a more direct link to the projects they feature on another website. http://www.instructables.com. Great projects like usb drives out of Altoids tins and legos.

By Designersheets

Fishing Flies

I use one for the safety pins for quilting, and I save them for my son-in-law for fishing flys and lures.

By Siris

Repair Kit

I have made sewing kits from them & kept pins in them, kept my repair kit for my glasses in them. You can decorate them or just mark them. (Oh, I also have kept loose antacid tablets in my purse in them, as they are too big for regular pill boxes.)

By Pamphyila

Feel free to post your ideas below.

Answer this Question

Read answers for this post below.

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• Tins for Gifts
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• Grow Your Own Mint
• Cleaning and Reusing Metal Tins