The Friday Tutorial

A birthday keepsake from a tin of mackerel

I don’t just collect buttons, yarn, fabric, paper and lace. I collect tin cans too. Today I wanted to make a keepsake for a very special little birthday girl. I went through my collection and found the perfect one – a mackerel tin. Do you want to make one too? Ok here goes.

You need: A mackerel tin or any other tiny tin of your choice. You also need paper in bright colors, a photo, pearls, wire, glue, an awl and a pair of scissors.

Start by making a tiny hole in the top and bottom of the tin using the awl. This is important believe me…I´ve learnt the hard way you see finishing the whole piece just to notice that I forgot to make a hole for the wire hanger.

Cut out a background and a border in paper. Cut out the photo. Glue the background to the tin.

I also drew a pair of butterfly wings and painted them with ink. I added a touch of color to the little girls dress too.

Then I made a little wrapped gift to put in the tin. I used a sugar lump in case she would open it and eat it.

Now tread a piece of wire through the hole on the top, make a loop and secure it with a pearl. Use the hole at the bottom of the tin for hanging a tiny embellishment. I made a string of tiny pearls. It is best to do this before you start adding stuff inside the tin. Otherwise it gets difficult to maneuver. Yep, I learnt that the hard way too….

Finally you glue everything in place. You glue the wings on the back and the photo inside and finish with the border. Then I added the little gift. I never glue the photo directly to the wall, instead I glue the “feet” of the little girl to the bottom of the tin. That creates a sort of 3D effect.

This is another one I made a year ago. Also for a birthday girl! Not from a tin though but you can get a better picture of the 3D effect here.

Now I leave you for the weekend. Hope you have a creative one.

Jeanette