Stick Pin Swap . . .

The 4th of July holiday is now behind us and I am back on track with crafting and real estate. A new listing is going up on the MLS today. Yay! I am working on some special projects and also one that is going to be a part of a series with a beach/shore theme. I will post some of those in the near future. 

Once again, I am posting a project that I made as part of the online craft group Craft That Divas on Facebook. For this swap, we each had one partner and we needed to make some pretty 3-inch stick pins and make something pretty in which to present them. I could have made any kind of stick pin holder, from a pin cushion, to a cloth booklet; but I had seen these altered Altoid boxes on Pinterest and was intrigued by them. This gave me the perfect opportunity to make one!

I took apart an Altoid tin and used the two larger parts of the tin, the bottoms, to form the box. From there, this is what I came up with. The interior and the pins are shown below also.

This is how two Altoid tins ended up as a presentation box for handmade stickpins.

It is supposed to resemble a book.
I added a little key to the ribbon closure.



My swap partner, Amber, likes peacock feathers.
I used some paper from the Old Curiosity Shop line from Graphic 45.
The metal pieces for the corners, the lock and the key were all brass.
I altered the color using a Spectrum Noir alcohol marker.

The book covers are made of medium weight chipboard.
I painted the edges with a blend of acrylic paints.

Don't you just love the little flying pigs paper I used on the tins?

It stands up like a book on a shelf.

Here are the handmade stick pins in colors I hope Amber likes.
She can choose to wear these as an accessory or add them to projects.
Making stick pins is just one of my addictions!
I placed the stick pins on removable cards with ribbon pull tabs.
She can use the box for another purpose, if she wishes.
The hinges are made of ribbon, but I forgot to take a photo from that angle. :-(

I included this handmade card with the swap.
I used some gold paint to distress it a bit.

I used parchment paper for the interior of the card and stamped it with little butterflies.
I embossed the envelope with a postal motif.

Here is the card and envelope pictured together.

As an added gift, I made this long presentation box.

I surprised Amber with two handmade 6-inch stick pins.
I used a #8 tag as the holder.
I embossed it with a Parisian theme . . . the Eifel Tower and painted it with acrylic paint.
I was so happy when I found the little Eifel Tower charm at Michaels!

This is the back of the tag for the 6-inch stick pins.
The old fashioned images of the bicycles is so charming!

I look forward to making more stick pins. I have a lot of beads and some special pins, including some that I picked up in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. They have black teardrop shaped heads and are what the Amish women use to pin their bonnets. And . . .I have a few empty Altoid tins, waiting to be transformed! I will have to come up with something to use the tops for, too!

The day is melting away and I still have a bit of work to do here at my desk and tall weeds to pull out in the overgrown gardens. So, I will close here and, as always,  . . . may God hold you in the hollow of His hand until we meet again.

Emmy