Steampunk Altered Altoids Tin

I have had this tin for months and have wondered what to do with it. Today I decided to do some gluing and creative craziness.

I started by going through my stash of junk and finding some old semi-rusted sewing machine bobbins. I decided they would make great feet for the tin.

I glued on the bobbins and let the glue dry completely. Then I taped the sides and lightly spray painted the bottom and feet gold.  

While looking at the bobbins on the tin I realized this would be a Steampunk project. I do love the Steampunk.

Once the gold paint was dry on the bottom I began gluing watch pieces and chain on the lid to create a Steampunk look.

Something I have in abundance are the very tiny gears, screws, and other pieces that hold the watches parts together. I have a bag full of very tiny parts. These parts work perfectly to fill in the small gaps between larger parts. They pop into the excess glue and add to the whole look. Sometimes you have to use tweezers or pointed pliers to get them into the narrow gaps. But they look so cool.

 

On the inside I glued pieces of decorative paper. Since the box is hinged I had to use something thin on the inside of the lid so it wouldn’t interfere with the box closing. I wanted to put in a mirror but it didn’t work.

It was about this time that I decided to add the chain around the base of the tin (see photo above) to cover the bottom edge where the feet are glued. It seemed to finish the box.

 Once all the glue was dry on the top of the tin, I sprayed it with gold paint.

 After the gold paint dried, I sprayed a mist of black onto it. Then I kept spraying them onto each other while wet and got this cool antique gold look.

All paint spraying was done outside with the box sitting on newspaper. It’s never a good idea to use spray paint in an enclosed space. By the time I was done the wind had come up. It’s a good thing I was happy with the look by then.

Instead of watch parts you could use lots of beads and glue them all over the top. You could use wooden beads for the feet.

I use E6000 glue. It’s industrial strength glue that bonds many things. It is not good for children. It sets in minutes but takes up to 24 hours to fully dry. A toothpick is very useful in applying the glue into small places.

Clothespins are also handy for holding things together while glue dries.

One use for this little box would be for earrings. Or rings. It could sit on your dresser and hold small pieces of jewelry. Or on your desk for paper clips.

I hope this one inspires you to get creative with your own stash of crafty supplies. I save so many fun things just waiting for a chance to use them. Sometimes it takes years before I do finally find a use for some.

Happy creating.

Til next week.

Terri

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