Craft Project: The Perfect and Personal Pill Box

 

Craft Type: Decoupage
Time it will take: As simple as 15 minutes! Or as fun as hours and hours…
This totally easy and fun craft is a perfect gift for yourself to use in every day life or as a present for someone you love. Not only is it a simple craft to do on a rainy day, but it’s a perfect party craft! Invite some girlfriends over and make each other original and beautiful pill boxes.



What you need to make a Perfect Pill Box:
1. I used a tin pill box from Specialty Bottle, a very reliable company which I love because there’s NO minimum order! The one I ordered was this one: http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=331
I love it because it’s small, but holds a large amount of pills; plus, the pill boxes are only .64 cents each!
2. Plain white glue mixed with water to make a smooth, slightly thinner, watered down glue.
3. Small paintbrush—any kind will do!
4. Any small images on paper (magazines, photos—but beware of anything printed from the computer because occasionally the glue/water mixture makes the picture bleed). You can also use beautiful fabric or wrapping paper, too!
5. OPTIONAL: You could use Mod Podge (a glue like medium used over the dried pill box case to add a sheen). You can purchase Mod Podge (which isn’t a bad idea because it can be used for millions of projects) here: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/modpodglos.html
How to make the Perfect and Personal Pill Box:
1. Order the pill box from Specialty Bottle.
2. Find images small enough to cover the front of the box. You could collage many little images (figure a) or use one big one (figure b).
3. Mix the glue with a few drops of water until it forms a smooth and easy to spread liquid.
4. Spread a thin layer of the glue mixture on the back of your cut-out and place it smoothly on the clean tin container. Smooth the cut-out on with your brush or finger.
5. Continue gluing on your images. You can glue one image on the top and keep it simple or you can overlap and collage them! That’s what makes it your own and beautiful. Make sure each cut-out is smoothed and that there are no major bumps.
6. On the back of my pill box I put my name (or you can put your return address label, they fit perfectly) in case it gets lost!
7. Let the pill box dry until nothing is sticky anymore and then with your brush or finger, apply a thin layer of the Mod Podge all over the box to fuse all the images together and give the pill box a shiny sheen.
8. Let it dry and show it off to everyone!
*I like SpecialtyBottle.com because they let you have two free samples: “If you are a new customer, you can order up to two items as samples online by adding the two items into your shopping cart and going through the checkout process. For payment method, select “payment by check” and write ‘sample order’ in special instructions. Specialty and large glass containers are not available as samples” so you can test out your product. Also, there’s no minimum purchase of containers! In the future we’ll be using it again to order more for crafts, so bookmark it!
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can contact me on the message boards, my user name is Oliviamarch.
Article written by Olivia March, © 2008 butyoudontlooksick.com

  • Karen

    Decorative napkins can be used for collage as well. For a small box, you may need only one napkin (especially if it has lots of little images) to cover.

    Thanks for the little box source!

  • kirsten

    to prevent bleeding on paper products.. use tape! use clear tape and coat both sides of the paper.. its what we do to put paper things in resin. you have to seal the sides though… or it bleeds oddly.

    also, take it from me.. if you use a tin yu often want to coat the inside in a food grade sealer. i like beeswax. it prevents rust and helps keep moisture out

  • Fran

    Love it – will now be on the look out for little tubs etc I can decorate for people to use !!

  • Holly H

    Cute idea but an important thing to remember from a safety standpoint is that not only are the pills unlabeled as to what they are, some pills cause reactions when stored together. I use pill boxes at home, but am cautious what I put in them and only carry labeled bottles with me away from home to avoid any questionable situations.

  • Sue/minisue

    A quick pointer: Mod Podge can be used for adhering the picture(s) on the box, as well as for a protective coating. (It comes in matte or shiny, so you can choose what sort of finish you want.)
    In my experience, pictures are less likely to bleed using ModPodge than with glue & water–but test this for yourself on something similar.

    Also: if you’re really broke, the glue/water mixture can be diluted with water just a bit and then brushed over the top instead of ModPodge, but the pictures are even more likely to bleed. But you really have to protect the pictures with something if you want the pill case to stay looking nice.

    Oh, one more suggestion: you really don’t need a brush, especially with ModPodge, which is fairly thick–spread it on with your fingers! They may end up getting sticky anyway, so why not use them? I actually prefer this when making collages, and on anything but a flat surface, I use my fingers exclusively.

    Thanks for a fun and useful project!

  • Virginia H Lauk

    What a fabulous idea!

  • Marlenestamps2

    What a wonderful project! I have several of those mint tins laying around, and now I have the perfect use for them! Thanks for sharing.

  • I think I also especially like this project because it is turning a possible “negative” (pills) into a positive… a decorative case! 🙂

  • My husband likes mints like Altoids & Myntz. I’ve always hated throwing away those perfectly serviceable boxes, so I have a collection of them and haven’t known what to do with them before. Now I have the perfect solution. I might even make this a “To Do” Table item at the Fibromyalgia Awareness Day (May 12) Symposium to give people a respite from speakers. Thanks for this idea!

  • Terra

    Great project idea, Olivia!
    You can also use tins recycled from a variety of other sources- such small mint containers (sometimes comes in small-enough boxes) and lip balm sliders.