Introduction: Altoids Tin Wallet
This versatile candy tin can also be used as a wallet! In case you haven't already discovered, standard credit cards and ID's fit perfectly into the venerable Altoids tin. Check it out! This is super easy, and aside from taking time to eat all of the candy, this can take as little as 1 minute or up to several hours depending on how complex you want to get.
My idea contains no fancy construction, original ideas, MSG, or preservatives.
Customize it! Ladies, you can add a strap to carry on the town, or guys paint it matte black and add a custom hot rod emblem like I did.
Wallet challenge - looks like someone posted one while mine was in progress! Great minds think alike - oh well on with the instructable!
Step 1: Gather Your Items
You will need the following:
1. One Altoids tin, or several.
2. Rubber bands, paper binder, elastic hair ties, or a recycled inner tube to use as your binding mechanism ( or a million other combinations I can't think of. I can envision complex opening mechanisms and the like, led's or whatever.
3. Optional: Recycled plastic to create an ID holder for inside the lid.
3. Stuff to put in it!
Step 2: Bind You Items
Decide how to bind your cards, cash, etc. It can be simple or complex. For mine I used recycled motorcycle tire inner tube, cut to shape as a card protector and also a few bands from the tube to bind the stuff together.
The paper binder works really well, but I advise using something to protect your credit cards from scratching. I used some inner tube as my binder, since it keeps things nice & quiet inside the tin.
Step 3: Place Items Into the Tin!
Everything will fit pretty snugly. If you decide to use some plastic for an ID holder in the lid, it is going to have to fit very tightly and is probably the hardest part of the whole project, as it is held in place with a friction fit in my example. I think an even better option is to use some type of tyvek or paper flap instead. When the lid is closed, it is very tight with the ID in the lid and the tin can pop open. I would suggest using some sort of securing method for the tin to keep it closed such as a hook & loop strap or simply a rubber band.
Step 4: Finished!
If you decide to paint your tin, you can mask off the edges where the lid friction fits to the bottom. Or like I did, just close the tin, and paint very lightly top & bottom. Make sure to lightly sand the tin and clean with alcohol or water to remove dust before priming and or painting to get good adhesion. There are several other instructables that can show you how to etch the lid, or line the inside with fabric and the like!
I can fit quite a few items in the tin, including a USB flash drive. I could see modifying to fit an ipod with a hole in the side for your earbuds.
You might also want to add several other items shown in other instructables, such as the nice coin holder.
A rubber armored tin using inner tube, recycled tire , old mousepad, or that cool "rubber tool handle dip stuff" called Plastidip might be fun to try. It comes in a spray can now!
37 Comments
14 years ago on Introduction
My friend though that R.F meant rat fart ;)
Reply 3 years ago
Hilarious
12 years ago on Step 4
what did you do with the ALTOIDS indention? did you just ignore it or somehow flatten it?
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
The older tins didn't have the indentation...
FYI the older tins are the ones that have the strait color border around the lid, not the fancy shaped and pointed one.
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
I know this is two years old, but I just wanted to say that in some places (like here in Canada), the new tins are still the old style without the raised logo
9 years ago on Introduction
well done
13 years ago on Introduction
thats what i thought
14 years ago on Introduction
would this shield cards from an RFID scanner?
14 years ago on Introduction
sweet with the rat fink aka big daddy roth dude
14 years ago on Step 2
i used to have that same exact flash drive...
16 years ago on Introduction
Merlin: Is there any way to make the lid fit tighter, so you don't have to use bands to keep the tin from falling open?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
https://www.instructables.com/id/Lock-an-Altiods-container/?ALLSTEPS
Reply 16 years ago on Introduction
The tins have some small dents in the bottom half that fit into the lid to sort of "snap" the lid shut. I think you might be able to try pushing the dents out slightly to make a tighter fit and see how that works for you.
16 years ago on Step 1
As a side note: I probably wouldn't use any magnets as your binding mechanism. They like to erase credit cards.
Reply 16 years ago on Introduction
That is such a myth.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
no, it killed my cards. sad
Reply 16 years ago on Introduction
Can you explain further? I thought some of the small rare earth magnets were powerful enough, but I base this on no scientific fact :)
Reply 16 years ago on Introduction
It is not really a myth, but history. The old mag-stripes are easily erased with magnets. The newer types are not. "High coercivity stripes are resistant to damage from most magnets likely to be owned by consumers." From -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card
Reply 15 years ago on Step 1
There are several variables in play here such as the type of card, the strength (magnitude) of the magnet, period of exposure, and nature of the exposure. The common hotel key-cards still use the old-type mag stripes. Those cards are intended to be re-used. These cards can be made unreadable by magnets as small as the one in your cell phone speaker if held close enough...especially if it rings. :) Even the newer credit strips can be erased/damaged by a powerful enough magnet (such as a neodymium magnet) or a powerful electric drive motor. Lastly, the way in which the card is exposed to the magnet can also come into play. If a card is gradually brought into a relatively weak-to-moderate magnetic field, and gradually removed from the field, the stripe may retain enough of its originally encoded magnetism to be read. However, if a card is near an electromagnet at the instant it is turned on and/or off, the field can cause a sort of "scrambling" of the mag stripe making it pretty much unreadable. This last concept can be noted using standard cassette tapes and an electro-magnet. Put a cassette tape right next to an electro-magnet and turn it on and off a few times. Then put the tape in a player. You will hear all kinds of crackling and popping on the tape. If you had turned on the magnet, then gradually moved the tape to and away from the magnet several times, the tape would sound much "cleaner" - although in either case whatever was on the tape would be erased. :
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I had a magnet in my pocket that erased a hotel key card not too long ago. So if you are going to stay in a hotel with keycards, leave them out of a wallet with magnets built into it.