Waaa-aaay back in October of 2013, I wrote an article for Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine about Spirit Boxes. This is from the intro: “Spirit Boxes take their roots from art dolls, kachinas, and other meaningful handcrafted figures. They make beautiful gifts, especially if a personal note or small object is tucked inside the box. To make your own Spirit Box, you will need just a few simple materials, and most or all of those can be recyclables.”
Six participants got together at the Studio yesterday to give it at try at our Spirit Box workshop. The results (below) are beautiful, personal, and heartfelt.
So what’s the “box” part of this construction? It’s a recycled Altoids tin (how ubiquitous – they are used from everything from mini-shrines to sewing kits). But by gluing this on to the back of a flat wall piece, you can both lift it out from the wall to “float” it, and also have a secret compartment for life’s little pleasures like Hershey’s kisses, silver dollars, and secret messages! See?
Punch holes and fashion a “handle” out of wire, then glue on with E6000
Voila! A secret compartment!
FUN LINKS for ALTOIDS TINS:
22 Manly Ways to use an Altoids tin
Top 50 Ways to Recycle Altoids tins
Ten Things You Can Build Inside of an Altoids Tin (including a lie detector)
Altered Altoids and Other Tins
My personal favorite – an Altoids tin grill that can cook two hotdogs and one marshmallow – seriously?