What do I do with a non-functioning, lightweight box?

Let me begin by saying I’ve no idea if I picked the right tags…

So, I need some advice. I went to the dollar store and bought this mini-puzzle that came in a tin, just so I could use the little tin to hold blank ACT cards that I could take places in case inspiration strikes. My plan was to paint over the box to both make it pretty but also to hide the Paw Patrol design on it…

Well, I didn’t take into account that after painting it with a layer of gesso and then acrylic paint, the bottom of the box would be too thick for the lid. So when I closed it… I closed it forever. It will simply not open.

So now I have a useless, painted box that I don’t know what to do with. It’s too light to be a paperweight. I’m not into art that isn’t something I can use, unless of course it’s a painting that I can place on the wall or an ATC that I can put in my collection binder.

So… ideas? Is there something I could use this for?

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Dremel cut a hole to make a shadowbox?

And next time, here’s a fabulous tutorial from @racky to try.

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I don’t mean to laugh, but I immediately thought of our Crafting Accidents thread

We have all made such er, creative boo-boos!

I wouldn’t put any more time into it…use your experience and do another one!

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Oooh; that tutorial looks awesome! Thank you for sharing!

I kind of like the idea of a shadow box though! I’m not sure I’m too adept at using power tools, though. It would be an experiment, lol!

Lol; do laugh; I certainly did :joy:

Thank you for sharing that thread! I suppose I could have posted this there :blush:

I just wish I could use it for something as is, but it’s quite useless other than as a decoration, lol! Oooh… I just had an idea! I could paint over the moon and stars with some kind of glow-in-the-dark something or other. It may be cool for one of the kids’ rooms.

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You can always use the tin as some sort of pedestal. Maybe glue on some glow in the dark dinosaurs and make it a fun nite light for the kids!
download

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You could also manage this with an awl & hammer, and then a pair of tinsnips if that’s less daunting.

I suspect I would spend far too much time scraping carefully around the lid until I could get it open again, but moving on is probably the less frustrating option! :grin:

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Well you could burn all the paint off by tossing the tin into a fire. Fumes from the melting plastic are a concern of course.
It could be a frame for something to hang on the wall, build a 3D picture on it that covers the sides as well.

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You might be able to get them apart by cooling the bottom and warming the top. Metal expands/contracts quite a bit with temperature changes.

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Good point. I think I’m going to let this one be. I’m not sure I have the energy to try to fix it…

I really like this idea. I only have the one box, but I might put it into my “recyclable materials” drawer for a future project or something.

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