Altoid Tin Crafts

If you've been anywhere in the library recently, you might have seen the fliers for the Life Survival Kit craft program. Maybe you peered into the handy first-aid kit sitting by the reference desk. Or maybe you even joined in and made an Altoid survival kit of your own!

Whatever the case, you're now a fan of those "curiously strong mints" and want to know--what else can you do with those cute tins?? Luckily the internet is full of fantastic tutorials and examples of cool crafts that you can do yourself, whatever your skill level!

Follow the jump to learn more!

1. The Art of Manliness features 22 ways to reuse an Altoids Tin. Compiled from various blogs, there are simple crafts like first-aid kits to super complicated crafts like mini flashlights.

2. From its amazing website, Instructables has rounded up the most brilliant of their altoid tin projects, all contributed by the craftiest of the crafters! I especially like the Altoids tin guitar. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT. A GUITAR. OUT OF AN ALTOIDS TIN.

3. The Crafty Blog Stalker has kindly put together a fantastic list of altoid tin crafts that make my inner crafter squeal with joy. Some of these are adorable. All of them are practical. And best of all, they look easy enough even for someone like me who is all thumbs.

4. Pinner Charles Buchwald of Pinterest has created a board of wonderful altoid tin projects for your easy perusal. If you've never been on pinterest, you need to check it out because it's a cornucopia of cool DIY projects!

5. Finally, here's my tin which was sitting at the reference desk. It's probably the simplest survival kit ever made, but it's easy and to the point.

• First, cover the entire thing in white paint. I used acrylic paints because they're opaque and dry relatively quickly. Let it dry, then cover it in another layer of white paint. Let that dry.
• Second, paint a red cross on the front. If you feel you need to outline it first, do it lightly with pencil, then color it in. Let the paint dry.
• And finally, fill the tin with things you think are important to your survival.

The best thing about this project is that you can add pretty much anything and it would be perfect. Let your imagination run wild. Here's a couple ideas to get you started:

• Urban survival kit: mints, lighter, spare change, stomach medicine, rubber band, band-aids, nail file.
• Wild survival kit: compass, matches/lighter, bandages, twine, painkillers, pocket knife
• College survival kit: painkillers, pencils, tiny notebook, spare change, saltines, lighter, hair-tie. 
• Boredom survival kit: crayons, paper, bouncy ball, candy, jacks, whistle.

So many things to do, so little time. Get crafting, everyone!