Nancy Handy nhandy@optonline.net
I used blue Lumiere paint, which is an irridescent acrylic, that I bought at a stamp show. When I painted it on, it looked a little streaky so I worked with it and made tiny wave brush strokes. The kids thought I stamped it on. Over that I stamped an oriental long life symbol in gold. I don't know if it will hold up for the long run.

katchoo katchoo@bosconet.org
I made gift boxes for earrings for christmas gifts. I sanded the boxes then painted two of them black and one purple metallic. Then on the black ones I sponged on copper mettalic paint, and on the purple one I sponged on silver. I sprayed them with clear lacquer, and glued large beads to the top (pendant type beads)--a sun and moon bead on the copper/black boxes and a metal fish bead on the purple box.
Inside I put a bit of matching tissue paper and the earrings I'd made, using beads that matched the colors of the boxes (one pair of purple/silver earrings and two pairs of reddish/gold earrings).

Jhoyt1012@aol.com
what DIDN'T work was using a glittery ep on the Altoid tin....looked ok at first but instead of hardening, it just stayed gummy and scraped off easily with a fingernail. Yech! what a mess! Also, would highly recommend leaving the box closed when doing anything to do so the part that is covered under the lid doesn't get ruined (when you open and close it).

MRuss72650@aol.com
I have collaged onto the altoid tins, and also UTEE the tops.

Nancy Handy nhandy@optonline.net
I have painted them with Luminaire paints and used tacky glue to put tacky little faux gems on them. LOL Sometimes I add Pearl Ex swirls on top. I will also try Schminke if I think of it next time. potential problems and solution:
I paint the lid and the bottom, but not the sides of the bottom half or else the paint will chip each time you open and close it. The paint gets streaky when I painted it straight, so I paint the whole thing moving my brush in tiny waves going across several rows to give it a textured look.

Ellenl ellen.ogden@speedchoice.com
You can paint the outside and collage it and then double stick a mirror to the inside and use it for hair clips, change, rubber bands and little things: samples of makeup in those little packages, alcohol wipes etc. and use like a compact.

Sue Wisniewski StamprSue@aol.com
I made up to 100 of them for AC/2000 to give away as my trades. The best tip I have is how to size the cardstock you stamp to put on your tins. What you do is ink the edges of the top of the tin then stamp on cardstock, stamp images as usual. Cut out right on the inked line. This will give you a perfect fit for the top and inside top of your tin. To size the bottom outside and inside repeat what you did for the top. To differentiate from the top and bottom I only ink the edge for the top but the bottom I ink about 3/4 of it. I have showed this tip to friends and also in a class I taught. Simple but effective. Hope you like this tip.

Jan Hoyt Jhoyt1012@aol.com
I have just thought of yet another use for the versatile Altoids tins! I've been making a mini-first aid kit to keep in the backpack which I try to always carry to soccer and baseball games (my kids play, not pro games) and putting the band aids, first aid cream, etc. into zip lock bags which don't hold up very well. When I read the tips/techs file it suddenly hit me....voila! Altoids tins! would protect the stuff and keep it from getting torn, dirty, etc. plus I could make up separate ones for each kid to carry baseball practices in both baseball bags and soccer bags. Guess I could even decorate them with white paint and a big red cross if I wanted...or even stamp a band aid on top!