As the holidays become more and more about the "stuff" - artificial trees for sale in October, Plasma screen TV's as gifts - it is reassuring to know that for the brainwashed big spenders out there, are equal DIY counterparts armed with a glue guns, scrapbook paper, canvas, paint and a whole mess o' creativity.
For the 2010 Holidays, I repurposed 10 Myntz tins that had been stashed away during the year. These cute 2 x 3 inch aluminum bins come in black and bright aqua blue, with rounded corners and flat surfaces on all sides (unlike Altoids tins, which are embossed). Trader Joe's sells Myntz for around $1.99 and while the mints are tasty, I'm all about the tins.
Starting with a profusion of paper options - magazines, books, paint chips, scrapbook stock - I collaged each tin indivdually on top and bottom with backgrounds, images and text. I then added a small collage inside to cover the "Myntz!" logo on the back of the top. Next, Highlights, dots and borders were added with a black Sharpie marker. Finally, 3 to 4 coats of Mod Podge were used for sealing all over, before placing tiny gifts inside, ranging from jewelry and stickers to lotion samples and candy.
The tins were inexpensive to mail - in a tiny bubble-padded envelope, only $1.56 from California to Carolina - and arrived quickly, averaging 3 days coast to coast. My hope is that all the recipients enjoyed finding their own uses (saving pocket change, storing wishes on paper slips) for the repurposed tins and more than anything, celebrated a wonderful holiday, heavy on DIY.