1. Begin with your highly unattractive cd tin. Wipe down the tin inside and out to remove any dirt.

February 2004 addition: I just received a "press board" CD box from AOL (pictured below the blue tin). It's actually good quality and decopage would probably work really well on this new version of the tin!

2. Trace the outside of the tin onto the felt and cut out the shape. Put aside until later.

3. I used "Classic Metals" by Plasti-Kote in black to spray paint the tin. I evenly sprayed the top and sides of both halves of the tin. It took two coats (allowing to dry in between) to get a good, even coverage.

4. Once the paint was dry I flipped over the bottom half of the tin and sprayed the edges around the inside. The felt will eventually cover up the center so it's not necessary to paint there.

5. With a sponge brush, I spread some Mod Podge onto the inside of the bottom half of the tin. I did not spread it out all the way to the edges.

6. Then I pressed my cut out felt down inside the tin. I ran my fingers over the felt to spread out the mod podge underneath. Since the felt gives a little I was able to adjust where needed at the edges If a little metal was still peaking through from underneath. Note that the felt doesn't cover up the sides of the inside, it just covers the bottom.

7. I decided on a torn edge look for my decorative top. I randomly tore a square shape out of my origami paper.

8. I covered the entire back of my paper with Mod Podge. Then I positioned it (centered) onto the top of the tin.

9. Next, I spread a layer of mod podge over the entire top of the lid. While that dried, I put a layer of Mod Podge on the bottom side of the bottom half portion (felt-lined) of the tin.

10. The Mod Podge dried in about 20 minutes and you are left with a beautiful tin!

11. Here, you can see the felt lining.

12. The top has a really nice, almost leather, feel and look to it. I am very pleased with how this turned out. I use my tin to hold stamps and address labels.

:: questions, comments, suggestions ::