Pinterest Fail

     

I saw a really cute idea on Pinterest–covering mint tins with washi tape.  The cute tins could then be used to store a number of things–bobby pins, buttons, paper clips, business cards…the list could go on and on.  Since I had a couple of these tins lying around, I thought I’d give it a whirl.  Unfortunately, they didn’t turn out quite like I hoped.

The instructions began with painting the tins with white paint so that the original graphics wouldn’t show through.  Since the tins were originally for Altoids and were red and white, I gave them a couple of coats.

After that, I simply had to cover the tins with washi tape, taking care to line up the pattern.  Seemed simple enough.  And, it actually was.  However, my problem came from seams that didn’t want to stay put.  I thought a coat of Mod Podge would seal them and allow them to stay closed, but I never got around to giving it a try.  When i trimmed the edges to fit the tin, the seam problem only got worse.  Plus, I didn’t manage to trim the edges as neatly as I would have liked.  Yes, friends, using an exacto knife takes a little talent.

The final straw, however, came when I closed the smaller of the two tins.  It closed just fine, but then I was never able to get it to open again!

That thing is closed for good, I think.  In this picture you can even see some of the ugly edges.

Luckily this didn’t take a great deal of time, so it’s not like I lost an entire evening or anything.  Would I try it again?  Sure.  The first time is always practice anyway, right?