Tutorial: Upcycled Altoid Tin

Welcome to my Tutorial: Upcycled Altoid Tin.

Can I just tell you I am on an altering kick? Every time I touch something I am wondering how I can alter it. So today I altered an altoid tin for a gift card for my nephew for Christmas.

I know it is not Christmas colors but I wasn’t in the mood. I mean it is still November. 😉 My dad gave me some chocolate covered Altoids (I actually threw them away- I just wanted the tin).

What can I say… when I even craft using trash lol

Personalize an Altoid Tin:

Step 1

Spray the entire outside of the tin with a metal spray paint primer. It will be a nice white color.

You can then paint or spray paint over that but I just left mine primered.

(I just wanted to get rid of the red color on the top).

Step 2

Trace around the top of the tin and cut that shape out 4 times out of cardstock. I inked the edges of mine as well.

Use white glue and decoupage the paper on the top and bottom of tin and in the inside lid and bottom lid.

Cut off any excess on the top and bottom of the tin.

Step 3

Use coordinating paper and cut it a little smaller than the last piece and glued that on top of the cardstock on the bottom and top of the tin.

I also decoupaged over the top of the paper to really secure it.

Step 4

Then cut 1 cm of coordinating striped paper and glued that around the side of the tin.

Embellish the top by ripping a brown piece of paper and hole punching a circle.

Ink the circle and, for mine, I stamped a “Z” on it for Zackary.

Glue both of those on and decoupage the top of those as well.

Step 5

Make an accordion out of brown paper. It measures 3 1/2 x 12.

Score and fold every 2 inches.

Also round the corners.

I was planning on scrapbooking those with pictures but then I remembered who I was making this for… my 15 year old nephew who would not care about that.

Step 6

So I thought I would use the accordion to tape his Amazon gift card to and use it to kind of pop the gift certificate out when he opened the tin.

So that is what I did.

Glue the accordion to the bottom of the tin and put a small piece of double sided tape on the gift card and taped it to the top of accordion.

Step 7

Then I just wrote a sentiment on a piece of paper and put a small piece of double-sided tape and taped it to the inside top of the tin.

I used a small piece so it can be removed and then tin can be reused.

Punch out an extra circle so they can remove the Z on the front and reuse if they wish.

Put those in the very bottom of the tin.

What is an Altoid Tin?

An Altoid tin refers to a small metal tin that originally held Altoids, a brand of mints. Altoids are known for their strong peppermint flavor and come in various flavors and sizes. The tin itself has become popular for various creative and DIY (do-it-yourself) projects due to its compact size and sturdy metal construction.

People often repurpose Altoid tins for a variety of uses, such as creating small survival kits, mini first aid kits, portable art supplies, or even tiny travel-sized games.

The tin’s convenient size makes it a versatile container for organizing and storing small items. The practice of repurposing Altoid tins has become a kind of crafting subculture, with enthusiasts sharing their creative ideas and projects online.

Do Altoids mints still exist?

They do and you can find them easily on Amazon these days.