CTMH For Always Photo Tin

For Always photo tin

I recently came across this small tin box in my craft supplies.  It is only one half inch deep, but it is large enough in dimension to hold photographs.  As I was thinking about how to use the tin, I thought about a box of black and white photos that I inherited from my grandmother.  These photos are in various sizes from the time period of the mid 1900's.  Many of the photos are of people that I don't recognize and unfortunately, they are not organized in anyway.  

This box of black and white mystery people are one of the reasons that I decided to become a scrapbooker.  I believe that photographs are of historical and emotional significance and that they should be preserved for generations to come.  I just can't bring myself to throw away  these photos of unknown people.  This smiling bride and groom; a young man in front of a new car; a grandmother holding her grandchild.  These are people with stories to tell, but no one to tell them.  This is why I scrapbook.  I have a responsibility to tell my story.

The black and white photographs inspired me to use CTMH's For Always paper packet.  It is a collection of black and white background and texture patterned paper with cardstock in Lagoon, Honey, Slate and Ruby to add a colorful accent to your project.  Because I wanted a softer look, I decided to add floral accents to my tin.

I cut a 12" x 3" strip of Slate cardstock and added the coordinated zip strip from one of the patterned papers as a center "ribbon".  I adhered it together snug enough to stay in place around the tin, but also so it could slide on and off for access to the photographs inside.   I used my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut out flower shapes of various sizes that also coordinated with one of my favorite stamp sets called Hooray Bouquet.  I used the stamps to do some tone on tone stamping of the flowers and stamped the Lagoon cardstock flowers with Lagoon ink and the Honey flower with the Honey ink.  I also cut out a tag shape from the Cricut cartridge and threaded it with a piece of Lagoon Satin Ribbon.  Then I placed the flowers in a cluster, layering them as I glued them on.  I also accented with a few clear buttons as flower centers.

A very easy and pretty project that can be a keepsake for yourself or given as a gift to a loved one. Photographs don't have to be in an album, but they should be preserved and organized in some way.  This project is a simple solution to stacks of loose photos.