Mini Album in a Tin

Happy Wednesday, friends! I hope your week is off to a great start! Are you ready for some Spring weather yet with pretty flowers?! I am, I am! Leslie here with you today sharing a tutorial for a very colorful mini album in a tin. A couple years ago I won a Tin Topper subscription, and received beautiful digital tin topper images every month for a year. Bought tins and have had them in my stash all this time so I decided to finally use one! Note that any colorful digital images or patterned paper can be used for this project. Of course, you need pretty cardstock, too… a variety of bright colors which I’ve listed below. Let me show you how to make this!

The following colors of cardstock were used:
Amaranth Pink
Astrobright Lunar Blue
Textured Caribbean Blue
Wild Salmon
Neenah Classic Crest Baronial Ivory
Neenah Classic Crest 80# Solar White

Create Mini Album Base

Cut the base at 6-3/4″ x 10-7/8″ from Amaranth Pink cardstock. Score it at 3-5/8″ and 7-1/4″ on the long side. Rotate and score it at 2-1/4″ and 4-1/2″ on the short side. Using scissors or a paper trimmer, completely remove the four corner rectangles marked by an X in the photos below.

This is what your mini album base should now look like. I rounded the corners of each section so it would fit well in the tin. Designer tip: Trim just a sliver off all the edges that butt up against a score line. This will remove bulk and ensure the album closes smoothly.

Assemble Embellishment for Lid

Dig into your flower stash and make a simple embellishment for the lid. Wrap it with white twine and tie a bow. Set this aside.

Prepare Panels for Mini Album in a Tin

Print your choice of images to use on the panels and trim each to 2-1/8″ x 3-1/2″. Next, cut a variety of panels from different colors of cardstock to layer beneath the images. Astrobright Lunar Blue, Textured Caribbean Blue, Wild Salmon, Neenah Classic Crest Baronial Ivory were used here. Additionally, cut 1/2″ x 11″ and 1/2″ x 2″ strips of Amaranth Pink to go around the outside of the tin. Gently curl the long strip with a bone folder.

Adhere Panels

Let your creativity run wild as you adhere the panels. Eight pockets created with torn cardstock and digital images on both sides of the mini album worked perfectly.

Cover Outside of Tin

Using a strong adhesive, add desired panel design to the top of the tin with cardstock and digital image. In addition, adhere the long pink strip to the outside (beneath the lid), connecting the ends with the short strip.

Cut Pocket Cards

Choose a rectangle die in your stash that’s approximately 1-1/2″ x 2-3/4″ and die cut eight cards for the pockets. These are for journaling or photos and can also be cut with your paper trimmer. Tuck one card in each pocket on both sides of the mini album.

Add Sentiment Panels

Grab the same rectangle die and one slightly larger (approximately 2″ x 3-1/4″), and die cut two additional sentiment panels. Stamp a sentiment on the smaller one and adhere it to the top of the tin. I left the larger one on the inside blank to write a custom message when gifting this.

Complete Mini Album in a Tin

All that’s left to do is add the flower embellishment to the lid along with a few other finishing touches. Several enamel dots and some skinny washi tape added to the tin and mini album pages did the trick. In addition, I tied the mini album closed with ribbon.

Summing up, these are the other products I used:
PAPER: Gecko Galz Spring Blossoms Tin Toppers (from May 2024 Tin Topper Kit) printed on 80# Solar White
STAMPS: Stampin’ Up A Happy Thing Stamp Set
INK: Memento Peanut Brittle Ink
DIES/PUNCHES: Kadomaru Pro Corner Rounder, Love From Lizi Stitched Rectangle Nested Cutting Dies
ACCESSORIES: Fiskars 12″ ProCision Rotary Bypass Paper Trimmer, Spellbinders 12×12 Scoring Board, metal tins (resembling Altoid tins) from Amazon, Tape Runner Retractable Double-Sided Adhesive Tape, My Sweet Petunia Precision Glue Press, Bearly Art precision craft glue, MISTI stamp tool, Big Shot, Wild Orchid Crafts flowers, Doodlebug Design Lily White Doodle Twine, MAMBI skinny Washi Tape, Keep It Simple Back To Basics Mango Enamel Dots, gold ribbon (from stash)

To conclude, I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini album in a tin, and I’d love to know if you make one! Be sure to visit CutCardStock on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for more DT inspiration! Also join our Creating with CutCardStock Facebook Group for even more crafty inspiration! Thanks so much for stopping by today – we’ll see you next time!

Scrappy hugs,
Leslie