Who has an old cookie tin laying around their house? Especially an older one, that once helt sweet treats, but has a cheesy and outdated print on them?
If you don’t have one on hand, then you can enter any thrift store and usually find a boatload of old Christmas cookie tins for dirt cheap.
I decided to give these cookie tins that I found at a thrift store a make-over – and give them new life!
Here are the materials you need to makeover your ugly holiday cookie tin:
- Cookie or gift tin – various sizes and shapes
- Turquoise spray paint
- Gold patterned Washi Tape
- X-Acto Knife
- Twine Flower Magnets
- You will want to start by cleaning out your tins (old Christmas cookies crumbs anyone?) and taking off any labels that may be on them. Make sure they are clean and dry. Then get some cardboard and head outside where your spray painting magic can begin!
- Spray on about 3 coats of spray paint on all of the tops and bottoms of the cookie tins.Let each coat dry inbetween.
It’s much better to put on multiple thin coats rather than one thick coat of spray paint. Thick coats will drip and ruin the finish of the new color.
When your newly painted decorative tins are newly painted and fully dry (wait at least 24 hours after spray painting), then you can start embellishing them with washi tape. I started with my rectangle-shaped cookie storage tin and added Washi tape just like it was ribbon on a wrapped gift.
When the tape is lined up, use the X-Acto knife to make cuts where the newly decorated holiday season cookie tin opens up. I also trimmed the washi tape on the bottom right at the edge of the container for a nice clean line on the bottom.
Here is the “cross” of the “criss-cross” tape pattern. Again, use your X-Acto knife to slit the tape where the top and bottom of the cookie tin meet. Be sure to firmly press down all of the edges of the tape to make sure it is secure.
To be sure the tape lasts a long time, I’d suggest spray painting the tins again at this stage with clear varnish.
Now you can top it off with one of these cute magnetic flowers that you can get over at my handmade Amazon shop HERE made out of hemp twine! These are an adorable topper to your cookie tin. Whomever receives your gift can either re-gift the flower magnet again – or just use it on their fridge!
Or GO HERE and get these free printable Christmas ornaments! Print off the image and surround it with stained Popsicle sticks for easy ornaments that can be used as toppers on these up-cycled cookie tines!
I absolutely just love how these custom cookie tins turned out!!!
You can try this with different colors and washi tape designs. Get a few different sizes of cookie tins and experiment with making your own re-usable gift boxes!
Because of the spray paint, these are no longer useable to package edible items. But instead of your favorite sugar cookies, you can fill then with other favorite
DIY gifts – like lavender or lemon poppy seed soap, peppermint & lavender foot lotion, or tile coasters. You could even make your own note card using shaving cream, to go with your gift!
You could line the bottom with some bubble wrap and add some paper filler where you can add your own DIY bath and beauty products!
Now while these tins no longer serve as the purpose of tacky cookie packaging, you now have an adorable gift tin that can be reused, or painted to match the theme of a party (like baby shower or wedding shower!) In fact stacking them like the picture above could make a really cute “cake shaped” gift with round tins that would be adorable at a shower!
And speaking of baby showers – if you are interested in learning how to make a diaper tricycle – then check out the most detailed how to post you will find!
If you try this, be sure to come back and comment and let us know how they turned out and what gift you used them for!!!
Here are some more Upcycling Projects to get inspired by:
Rustic Decor: How To Use A Flower Loom
Calamity Jay says
Hi Maura! These are great instructions and ideas! I like your color & tape choices a lot too. Your timing is wonderful and thanks again for this!
Carol says
The problem I have had with spray painting theses containers is that the lids don’t fit right after painting. They are very tight. Any hints as to how to avoid this?
Thanks,
Carol O.
Piper says
Spray them with the lids on but only if you just want them to look pretty
Maura says
Yes – good idea if these are purely decorative!
Denise says
Dont they smell bad, like paint?
Maura says
I would not use these for gifts that are edible! The paint smell will linger. I use these for my homemade soaps. 😉
Jesse Dean says
Do you find that the paint chips off?
Maura says
The only place where I’ve seen the paint chip off is on the lip where it opens and closes (close friction contact.) Other than that, I’ve never had a scratch. Now that doesn’t mean they haven’t happened if the receiver tries to regift the box, but I haven’t heard any complaints.