After Christmas I finished up with a whole bunch of chocolate and cookie tins covered in pictures of Santa Claus, Snow men and Christmas messages. The local goodwill stores are also filling up with a few.  Now I got no beef with Santa (he and I go back a long way) but Christmas themed musical instruments are a hard sell any time between December 27 and Halloween. 

Does anybody have any great ideas how to strip down, jazz up, de-Christmassify or otherwise re-purpose these tins without detempering them too much?

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  • On this tin acetone was very good at cleaning off anything except either the paint or the sticky tape residue. 

    It was a lot of work I reckon next time I will just give Santa a summer holiday only because I live in Australia Christmas is already Summer. But it was a learning experience as they say and I had fun. 

  • if anyone find out how well acetone works, please share.

  • Seems like a lot of work stripping/sanding - would painting a yellow sun in the top corner, sunglasses on Santa and writing along the botom "Santa's summer holiday uke" work?  For ease you could do it as a graffiti with a black marker pen.

  • 306696012?profile=originalSo here is the final product. The biggest job was cleaning the remnants of the sticky tape that originally held it shut. It was so persistent I finished up stripping the paint under it because it was easier. 

    Ghost of Santa still lives but

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    • turned out pretty good. I like it

  • I am sorry, but that sanded Santa CRACKED ME UP!   Thanks for starting my day off right.  I think I would use it, the ghost Santa is subtle.  Here is the one I did with using the BOTTOM of the tin.306669288?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

    • You better not pout

      You better no cry

      You better not shout 

      I'm tellin' you why

      Ghost of Santa Claus is coming to town 

      .......

      I shall let your imaginations run on what the ghost of Santa could get up to. Almost makes me wish I was back up home so I could finish it off instead of down here staying at a vineyard near the beach.

      We will  all have to wait another week till I get back to the shed.

  • Unfortunately  my old mate Santa is a bit persistent due to his being embosssed on the tin. A bit of textured rustoleum did a bit of covering after a bit of rubbing on a flat surface to smooth the embossing a bit. The hammered finish would be better for that. 

    Financially given I can get new tins full of biscuits  or chocolate for between $ 3 and 10 dollars and second hand for $2 or under this is a waste of time.  On the other hand you would have to be a mug to get into this game for the money. 

    The all year Christmas store is a fair way from my place but I may contact them when they reopen in February. We do have a few Christmas in July things that happen so we can eat gargantuan English Christmas dinner while the temperature is a bit less sweltering than it is at the moment. I think they are more into the trees and food but I will keep an eye out later in the year. 

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    • Carvel Ice Cream had the right idea, The Santa cake and the whale cake were made with the same mold, it's all in how you decorated it.

      • I bought a mold at the thrift store of like santa's face.. . . decorate the hat however ya like but it really looks like my coworker with this epic beard... 

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