Altered Diorama Tins – Christmas Scene Tin

I’ve had another go at my Christmas tin idea and I have to say they turned out even better than I would ever thought.  I am soooooooo pleased with them, I can’t tell you.

The 20ml tins came from eBay (£7.75 + £1.17 for 12 tins)

I started by lining both sides of the open tin with a small print paper, adding a little faux stitching round the edges using a fine tipped, black, permanent pen and then the air dry, paper clay for the snow. I put a little glue behind the “snow”, just in case it shrank in the drying process.

My table was full of all the ready prepared bits and pieces I needed to complete the snowy scene.

The houses came from Papermania Bare Basics, however they have since changed the designs in the set I originally bought, but I have had them forever, so I’m not surprised.  I patched over the windows and heart with tiny scraps of red and yellow paper to add and close up the back.

On the front I coloured the houses with a white Posca Pen and then added DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint Writer to the roofs, chimney and around the bottom.

I can’t remember where I got the small bottle brush trees from (but I need a some more for other Christmas ideas).  I took the bases off the trees and stuck them to the back of the houses (above), to give added dimension and in the process nothing was wasted.  I also trimmed the bristles off the back of the trees, so when glued to the back of the tins they lay flat.  I also added a little glue to the wire end of the trees before I sank them into the snow.

The hearts I found in The Works in their Christmas Sale.  I added the writing, again using a fine tipped, black, permanent pen and then glued a small flat bead on the back, so that they would stand slightly proud in the lid.

The snowmen are among the last of the ones I bought from Michael’s in New York, four years ago now, I love them.  They hold so many memories, I remember exactly how excited I was when I found them, reduced in the sale, but they have to be used.  

I also added some “Writer” to the snow to add more texture.  The tiny silver heart is a metal nail art decoration.

I decorated the backgrounds with small, nail art snowflakes (eBay) which I also put on the front of the tins around the B-Krafty metal greeting embellishments, along with bigger plastic snowflakes and tiny silver flay back domes.

On the back of the tins I glued a small jewellery bail so that the tin can be hung as a decoration on a Christmas tree.

In all I completed 10 tins in this session and as I said at the start, I am sooooooo pleased with how they turned out, I felt like a proper crafter!

I have another twelve small tins left, so I think I will use them all up for this idea, especially as I also have enough snowmen and trees to do it too.  I do need a few more houses, but I have found these on The Works website, a pack of 20 for £1, it’s a no brainer.

https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/wooden-crafts/wooden-house-embellishments-pack-of-20/5052089316928.html

……. And when the next batch of tins are done, I have these other tins to use up!

They are quite a bit bigger, so I am thinking a tin Christmas card decoration, with a similar scene inside, using bigger embellishments and perhaps a verse or two of “Let it Snow” in an old typewriter font on the other side?  Not sure about the front …….. we shall see.