DIVIDE and CONQUER! (another tutorial)

Thought I should show how you can modify that cute little tin from the previous post to store one of my favorite "card candy" embellishments: BRADS! (Of course you can put something other than brads in yours) Whenever I'm shopping, be it either online (my preference) or in a "real" store, it's hard to resist throwing those inexpensive little packets of brads in the cart before you go. They're so cheap, easy to use, and add "wow!" to any card. Although the packaging they come in does a nice job holding them, a LOT of these little packets on your desk or caddy can become clutter quickly. Here's an easy solution to keep several different kinds in one place, but still sorted:

Take two strips of paper to make 4 compartments as I'm doing today (or 3 (to make 6 ) or 4 ( to make 9) etc.) Measurement for the long divider is 3 5/8" by 3/4". Measurement for the short divider is 2 1/4" by 3/4 ". Using these measurements will put the divider just under the lip of your Altoid tin.

Once you have your strips cut, lay them on top of each other and make a snip through both halfway through (not all the way!) to make a slot. I cut mine in the middle to make 4 compartments of equal size but if you have more of one embellishment than another, you can make you slits further to one side of the other, just as long as they are both in the same spot.

Then flip one strip over and fit the two slots together. This pic shows them inserted partway to demonstrate, push them all the way down so both edges are flush before inserting in your tin.
Now you have a nice sturdy divider, and with this thick SU! brushed silver CS, it looks like part of the tin! I threw my brads in and made a little "friendly reminder" for the inside of the lid (also using What's In your Tin? 1) that this is MOM's CANDY! (see top pic) Gosh I'll be glad when my curious boys can read (AND heed "reminders")!LOL! Trust me, I will keep it hidden because a tin altered to look like candy is just too tempting for little boys, I know!

True funny regarding blogs, brads, and "sticky fingers": the other day I was working on my blog (and a few other computer projects) and tearing my hair out because I was getting a message I hadn't seen before on my computer about "sticky keys"! I kept hitting cancel that I DID NOT want sticky keys, restarted my computer several times, but each time when I tried to open my email or internet it would highlight EVERYTHING on my desktop! What the heck??! NOT GOOD! Finally I called my friend Melisa* who used to do tech support/sys admin to explain my dilemma. Immediately she asked, "Is there something stuck in the keyboard? Sure enough, when I looked down, there was a big honking brad WEDGED way down in between the shift and control keys.** "WILLIAM!!!!" (I REALLY NEED MY OWN OFFICE!)

*Thanks, Melisa! She is the bomb for computer stuff, I don't know why I waste time trying to figure these things out myself! (I'd give you her number, but she probably wouldn't appreciate that...)

** a pic would have been GOOD but I was so mad when I saw it and in hurry to get it out I missed a great blogshot, SORRY!

Thanks for stopping in, have a very funny day! (because wouldn't that be better than just a"nice" day? and even if it's bad, which it could very well be, hopefully you can blog about some of it later, and then it can go from "bad" to"funny"...)

PS Stacie asked (about the "candy is dandy" lid): Is it the Sakura Glaze pen that makes it look kind of puffy? and what does "huffed" mean.

Yes, the glaze pen puts a very thin layer of dimensional glaze over whatever you trace with it, really cool! "huffing" is a way to moisten your inked stamp with your breath (like when you fog up a cold window by blowing so you can draw a smiley face!) if you've been adding color to it either with markers or building up layers of ink by kissing, rolling or sponging before you stamp, just freshens it up to make the color more vivid if it's had to time to dry on the stamp while you're working. (Does that make sense?)