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NEW Big Top Circus Wagon + Tiny Stars & Hardware – 25% off SALE!

Filed under Altered Tins, Connie Littell, Kristin Batsel, Mini Hardware, Pierrot/Harlequin/Carnival, Shannon Cooper

How cute is this?! Design Team Member Connie Littell made a Big Top Circus Wagon from an Altoids Tin (and lots of tiny trims) and has lots of tips in her blog post:

When I first saw the Altoids Tin Wheels they loudly screamed CIRCUS WAGON to me! I’ve done a few circusy things in the past, mostly sideshow related and this time I decided to create a scene straight out of the big top tent’s center stage.

To get started on altering an Altoid tin I remove the lid and set it aside for another project. Before decorating I always sand the tin’s surfaces both inside and out. Kristin Batsel has a fabulous tutorial on how to decorate an Altoid tin so if you need a refresher on the basics it can be found right here.

I decided to orient the tin horizontally and needed a stage inside so used an Altoids Shelf Insert – 3-5/8 Inch Wide. Alpha stamps also carries a 2-1/4 Inch Wide version if you are ever inspired to craft something inside a tin that’s oriented vertically.

Mini Baby Elephants are center stage. They need a podium to stand on and I had a few options that all would have fit inside the tin and worked nicely. I decided on some round vintage game tokens I had in my stash and painted them ivory, red and turquoise…

That larger elephant pulling the wagon is new and shown below (below the wide photo with a close-up of the inside and a view of the back).

Here’s Connie’s supply list (all in today’s sale, too). And check below for even more circus art and supplies!
 

 
More Artwork (Circus and Tiny People) — with Back-in-Stock Supplies

Design Team Member Kristin Batsel made this fab Matchbox Circus and the Matchbox Sized Faux Book Box used to house this TINY creation is back in stock (only 2-1/4″ tall)!

First, the cover. I put alphabet stickers spelling out the word “circus” on a piece of paper and then cut it out to make a sign for the elephant to hold. Stars add a bit of sparkle. The letters on the spine of the “book” were cut from a collage sheet.

When you open the box, there’s a tiny circus performance going on. Or perhaps it’s dress rehearsal, seeing as the seats aren’t yet filled.

I painted the tiniest of people (also back in stock!) to create a wee trapeze artist and a ringmaster. I used the thinnest of brushes and the strongest of magnifying glasses to paint these performers. The trapeze artist is perched on her swing, which is actually a thin piece of wire, bent to shape. She’s attached to her perch with a little white glue. The baby elephant’s blanket is a piece of ribbon, cut to size and glued on.

See the original post for more photos, and here’s a link to see all her supplies.

 
One more related project: Design Team Member Shannon Cooper’s tiny Bus Stop, 1950.

First of all, for scale, yes that little scene is inside an Altoids Tin lid (filled with Green Turf Grass… with some yellow “leaves” from sprinkles of fluff from the tree). I’m not sure what Shannon used as leaves, but some I’ve added Mini Fall Leaves, which would work well for tiny “leaves” in this scale. Oh, and there’s a new tree (similar size) with orange “fruit” added today, too.

The people and the bench (both back in stock) are 1:48 scale (and the other items pressed into service look right at home in this 1/4 scale scene).

One last thing: Shannon used a tiny round bead for her “Bus Stop” sign… the back-in-stock Black Alphabet Beads would be a perfect size substitute.

See the original post for more photos, and here’s a link to see all her supplies. And right below the photos are back-in-stock supplies from both of these projects (also in the sale)!

 
Even More NEW or Back-in-Stock Supplies

I was inspired by Connie’s project (tiny hardware AND tiny stars)!

See all the new & back in stock items.

 
Big Top Circus Wagon SALE

40 items are on sale, including:
all the new & back-in-stock items,
– the supplies from the new Big Top Circus Wagon Tin artwork,
– the supplies from the Matchbox Circus artwork (including all the collage sheets and the Round Frames shown at right & below), and
– the supplies from the Bus Stop, 1950 artwork!

There’s a new AUTOMATIC DISCOUNT for an extra 25% off the listed prices! You’ll see the discount in your cart — no code required!

The sale ends WEDNESDAY NIGHT, March 19th at midnight PST.

See the sale collection here!

  
Posted by Leslie, March 16th, 2025

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