Introduction: Altoids Tin Art Kit

By TALD Media
About: Predominantly do photography, but like to share the little tips and tricks and projects I do as well. Twitter: https://twitter.com/TALDmedia?lang=en-gb Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taldmedia/

This is a mini art kit made from an Altoids Tin. This isn't the most original idea since people have come up with many ways of putting an empty tin to good use. Here I feel I have improved on some people's Altoids Art Kits by the added feature of it being able to hold oil pastels, water paint, brushes and what I see as the improved bit is to be able to hold water within the tin.

See my simple steps to see how I did it.

New to Instructables and this is my first share on the site and since I'm going to be kicking around for a bit, you can see more from me on my social media below:

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Step 1: What You Need

Here are the basic things you will need to make this Instructable;

  • An Altoids Tin
  • Cutters
  • A thin strip of rust proof metal
  • Elastic band (ideally 2)
  • Blue-tac

Optional Extras;

  • Paint brushes
  • Water paints
  • Oil pastels

Step 2: Making the Water Container

To make the water container I used;

  • Cutters
  • Thin metal strip (Cut a tin/soda can)
  • Blue-tac

Skip below paragraph if you have a suitable metal strip.

To cut the metal tin use your cutter at the opening of the can and cut to the side of the can. Once you have done this you can cut the top of the can off. Now you can cut the metal strip from the can to desired width that fits the Altoids Tin. Be careful as this may be sharp so I recommend wearing gloves and using a file to de-burr and reduce the sharpness of the material.

Making the Metal Container

Taking your metal strip cut it to length to where you would like to place it in the tin. In my case, the length of the strip had to fit inside the width of the Altoids Tin.

Now this is to size put it aside for the time being and take your Blue-tac and roll 3 'sausages'. 1 will need to be the width of where it is covering and the other 2 will need to fit the height of the lower half of the tin. Then place into the tin securely making sure there are no gaps. As I have tried to show in the pictures. Be sure that the Blue-tac is rolled thick enough so that the metal strip can sit in the middle of it as shown in pictures to create a basic seal.

Placing the metal strip in the middle of blue-tac equally cuts into the blue-tac forming this basic seal which stops water from entering the smaller section or larger section dependent on where you decide to hold your water for your brush for example.

Step 3: Deciding and Placing Items in the Art Tin

There are no strict rules as to what you can take in your Art Kit. Size is the only limit!

I decided to take oil pastels and water paints as the style of art I do often mixes the two together. See picture 3.

My brushes are held in by the elastic bands. The elastic bands also hold the tin shut to ensure it doesn't all fall out.

Some suggestions for in your Art Kit are;

  • Small pens & pencils with a rubber and sharpener
  • Little paint tubes with your brushes

Hope you enjoy making this simple Instructable and find a use for your Altoids Tin like I have.

Any questions leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer as soon as I can.