DIY Mint tin memorial shrine

DIY mint tin memorial shrine – a project to make when you wan to honor a loved one.

I created this one for my Nana Cano and I keep it in my art studio.

This is also known as a pocket shrine, check out my other post, How to make a pocket shrine

Nana Cano’s shrine:

Buttons and thread for her sewing. Chilis, beans and a cornhusk for her cooking, a phone for her juicy conversations, an elephant because she loved and collected them (decorations), crocheted lace because she did that too, silk leaves and roses because she had a green thumb, her medals for her faith…who knew so much could fit in a tiny tin?

How this DIY mint tin memorial shrine came to be

I started cleaning out the art room Friday night and became so frustrated and overwhelmed at the mess, that Patrick made me leave the area so he could take over the chore.

It’s been several days and everything is still a shambles. Now he is frustrated and overwhelmed.

I have a bad habit of not throwing anything away. And saving save wood cigar boxes to fill them with the treasures I horde.

Toss out shreds of gourmet paper? Naw way – I sew them together to make bigger sheets of paper! Seriously.

It is my dirty little secret.

You would all gasp in horror if you saw my work room!

I can talk about it now because it is halfway finished being cleaned and organized. Sort of. I was in there tonight and Patrick moved EVERYTHING. I had such a hard time finding anything. As manic as it was, I was used to my little system. He asked me to be patient, so I am.

One thing he did come across that I was very happy about, was this little mint tin shrine I made a long time ago for my Nana Cano. Now that my sewing book comes out in a few days, I’ve been thinking about her so much (she was a talented seamstress!) and I teared up when I saw it.

The week before a book comes out is always scary – wondering if it will sell, if people will like it, if I did everything right, etc…

This little memento is a sure sign all will be well!

And I will most certainly take better care of it! I made this shrine to her when I first started sewing to empower me. I placed it on top of one of my shelves and my supplies grew over it like cat claw vines on a gate. Who would have ever thought that years later I’d write a whole book about sewing, much less find this shrine that inspired the whole thing!

Well, I’m off to work on some more things in the art room for tonight. Oh! One more thing!

Supplies for a DIY Mint tin memorial shrine:

Mint tin (you can buy brand new or recycle a used one!)

Assorted papers

A photo of the person the shrine is for.

Trims, gems, mini-flowers, glitter

Craft glue and hot glue.

Light sandpaper

Multi-surface craft paints, brushes

Directions to make a pocket shrine

Lightly sand your tin, this will help the paint grip the surface.

Line the inside of the tin with colorful paper, using white craft glue or dry adhesives.

Glue your focal point image to colorful card stock and glue to the inside of the tin.

Add embellishments, working back (smaller items) to front (smaller items).

Add glitter and trims as desired.