"Straighten-Up" - Tin Tower Organizers

Tin Tower Organizers

by Wendy Switzer

Level: Intermediate

Time to Complete: 4-6 hours

Teen make-up & hair accessory organizer

Square & Circle tins used, two lid bottom, rod top extension with doc clip, paint splatter & vinyl accents

Supplies:

• Cookie Tins
• Spray Paint - Primer and color desired
• Threaded Rod 3/8"- 1/2"
• Washers & nuts - to fit onto threaded rod
• Drill & drill bit - size of the threaded rod
• Flat drill bit - size needs to be the width of the washer
• Newspaper, marker and pencil
• Scissors
• Wood scrap...plywood, pine, etc.
• Jigsaw
• E6000

Instructions:

1. Wash tins and dry completely.
2. Decide how many tins and lids will be used for your project
3. Paint tins, lids, washers and bolts with primer and set aside to dry completely. 
4. Next paint with desired color and allow to try for 1-2 hours (depending on the temperature)
5. Trace the bottom of each tin onto the newspaper and cut out the circle 1/4" INSIDE of the line.  Fold the paper circle in half and then in half again.  Snip off a small piece of the tip of the "pie" piece of folded paper you have created. 
6. Place paper circle inside the tin and use a pencil or marker to make a mark onto the tin center using the hole in the center of the paper circle. 
7. Do steps 5 & 6 for each tin and lid that you will use.
8. Cut a piece of wood to fit inside the largest lid.  Drill a hole into the wood that goes only HALF way through the thickness of the wood.  The hole needs to be as wide as the washer.  The washer and nut will be recessed into the wood and when the nut is tightened (step 12), it will be flush with the wood so that the base sits level.  This will give your tin tower good stability.   You can also use E6000 to glue the wood into the lid permanently.  I also like to use a bit of E6000 on each nut to make sure it is "locked" into place. 
9. Drill a hole into the center of each tin piece using the center mark as your guide. You may want to punch a hole in the center of the tin with a nail, first, to give the drill bit something to grab onto and keep your hole centered. 
10. BOTTOM/BASE ideas:  You can do many things to create your base/bottom.  You will notice that I did not do any of the bottoms the same.  You can use multiple lids to create additional organizing space  as your base.  Turn lids upside down on top of each other, layer lids, etc.  Be creative and design something that will work best for your individual needs.
11. To begin assembling your tin tower, twist a nut onto the threaded rod and twist it up about 6". Next place a washer onto the threaded rod and then your tin.  The largest (bottom) tin should be placed onto the rod so that the nut and washer are on the INSIDE of the tin.  
12. Place another washer and then twist on another nut.  Using your wrenches (one wrench on each nut...inside the tin and bottom of the tin) tighten as much as possible.  
13. Next place the next items in this order...nut, washer, largest tin lid (upside down), wood piece, washer and nut.  
14. Now with your base complete, you are ready to stand it up and begin assembling the rest of your organizational tin tower.
15. Assemble the rest of your tower in this order...nut, washer, tin, washer & nut.  This order of items can be used as many times as needed to create the tower height desired.
16. FINISHING the top:  You can finish off your tower in many ways....1.  You can have a small tin for the top.  2.  You can have a lid as the top.  3.  You can finish off your tower by having the rod extend above your top tin (photo 1A) and glue a large document clip onto the top of the rod.  Let dry over night and this will give you a place to display recipes, photos, reminders, etc.  
17. Finish off with stickers, vinyl lettering/shapes/names, tin contents, embellishments, etc.

 1A

BLACK: Three tin craft room tower. Two lid bottom and top extending rod with document clip

BROWN:  Three tin planter tower, textured paint to resemble sandstone, one lid for the base

 1B

Two tin organizing tower:  Offset, two lid base, embellished with vinyl filigrees

3A

4 tin craft tower:  Two lid base

4A

Produce/Table top tower: Used "flecking" glitter spray paint, placed the bottom tin on an upside down lid as the base.  Used a small lid as the very top.

Check out www.connect2utah.com to watch the tv demo segment :)