Don’t trash it… Recycle!

One of the things that I have been saving is an empty tin that used to hold hot chocolate. In fact, this particular hot chocolate is so delicious, that I now have two empty tins and can forsee my stash of them building up quickly. So figuring out something to do with it is definitely worth my while.  I decided to make a container to hold my secret stash of goodies (you know, the ones that you hide from the kids)!

I started by getting out my ruler and a piece of ribbon that was laying around and measuring the circumference and height of the tin. One of those fabric sewing rulers would have worked even better, but I can’t find mine anywhere, so I was forced to improvise by wrapping the ribbon around the tin, and then measuring that. Then I created a new document in Photoshop with those measurements. It just so happened that the tin is exactly 11 inches around, which would be perfect if I had a printer that is able to print a borderless page. But, despite spending two hours chatting with tech support, my printer won’t. So I knew right away that I would have to figure out how to cover the gap. I decided to make a separate label the same height as the tin to cover the white edges of the paper.

setting up the document

For this project I used Summer Delight, the yummy new kit from Sugarplum Paperie, because I loved the colors of the papers.

As you can see from my screen shot, after clipping the paper to my background layer, I changed the size of the canvas to a standard 11 in x 8 1/2 in and added another strip of paper from the kit that I could use for making a card or some other project, in order to use the whole paper. I then created another document with the papers I’d need for the label and one for the top of the lid, and after printing them both, I cut everything out.

Here are the supplies I used; you can see that I left the white edges on my long paper. This would be a perfect time to give everything a thin coat of Mod Podge, but for some reason the ink from my printer bleeds when I use it (one more reason to get a new one, right?) so I always skip that step. Instead, I decided to jump right in and start gluing the paper onto the tin, so after inking up all my edges, I started applying a thin coat of Mod Podge. I covered about a fourth of it and then began putting the paper on, alternating between the Mod Podge and the paper until it was covered. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of that because it took both my hands to get the paper on straight!

By the time I got back around to where I had started, I was getting the hang of it though, and I think it’ll be much easier to cover the next tin (or tins… I’m telling you, it’s yummy hot chocolate!). I probably should have let the tin dry before attaching the label, but I’m not the most patient of people, so I went ahead and spread a thin layer of the Mod Podge on the back of it and put that on the tin as well. I wasn’t sure if it would hold the paper to the plastic cover or not, but figured I’d give it a try so I put that on, and then forced myself to set everything aside to dry overnight. Later that night I started thinking that it would have been cute to sew a border around the label before I attached it, but considering my woeful lack of skill with a sewing machine, it’s probably better that I didn’t attempt it!

When I came back to it the next day, I was happy to see that the pieces were stuck on securely, and I could have left it just like it was, but I decided to look through my pile of stuff and pulled out a couple of flowers and buttons and a bit of ribbon to dress it up a bit. I love using glue dots to stick my embellishments on, because they’re easy to apply, not messy, and hold really well, so I put some thread through the button holes, but I used the glue dots to secure it to the tin.

It came out so cute, and I can just see it stashed away in a cupboard somewhere holding a bag of chocolates for those “must have chocolate” moments. In fact, I decided after I finished to send this one off to my sister’s house because she just had her fourth baby this week, and everyone knows that chocolate is good for new mamas!

This was so easy to make and would also be a fun way to package up some homemade cookies, or some pretty bath soaps. You could even make a masculine version for all the loose screws and nails that are laying around your hubby’s workbench! I hope this has inspired you to start hanging on to more things that might otherwise get tossed and turning them into handmade gifts for others or even yourself!

Other Articles by Jessica Pranaitis:

• Fourth of July centerpiece - July 2nd, 2010
• Greeting Card Organizer - June 4th, 2010
• Sassy Purse Gift Set - April 28th, 2010
• Gallery Finds - March 10th, 2010
• Chinese Takeout Container - February 3rd, 2010