My DIY makeup palette

This post is not about miniatures specifically – but it is related if you ever use eyeshadows in miniature projects.
Edited 2015/04/16 - to make this more mini related, other people mentioned that the pans make great pans in 1:12 scale, the round ones I show, well those could be small pond - both of these require to remove the makeup product.  The real big container held the pans in by plastic liner.  That liner could be salvaged and the bubbles also used for ponds.

Lately on the DIY list on Pinterest I have been seeing diy makeup palettes.  I have always loved the idea of a bunch of colors to choose from and so having eyeshadow and blush in different shades appeals to me.  But what does not appeal is all the different size and shape of the containers.  It is very inefficient if you want to use one color from this group and another color from another group.  Not that I am in any big hurry to do my makeup, just I like being organized and the multiple container idea is not that.

I have been looking at the various purchase options that are in my price point – Z Palette – which has several sizes and Uni Palette which is one size.  These are all great ideas, but my problem is that I wanted to have more than just the eyeshadow and blush together. 

Here is a pic of all my eyeshadow and blush before

Here is a pic of after I consolidated.

First I ordered some tin boxes on Amazon – these came as three pack.

While I was waiting for the tin boxes to arrive I depoted all my eyeshadow and blush.  This was a simple as using a thin blade and a heat source.  I used a straighter that I just got a thrift store the week before as my heat source.  I also scavenged around my house for the flat magnet stickers.  I had some on my fridge I was willing to use. 

I also had in my stash a tin box that a dvd came in.  This would have worked except for my magnets weren't strong enough to keep them in the lid.  I had so many they had to go in both the bottom and lid.  I did have some plastic to use as a divider between, but that didn’t help to keep them on the lid as it was opened. 

So then my three pack of tin boxes came – most of all my other makeup supplies fit into one of these tins.  I knew I was on the right track with this.

Next I considered how would my palettes be inside the tin.  I figured I could get 3 or 4.  Could I make them like a book?  Well, yes I could.  I did a mock up with paper and vinyl.  The paper was the pages the eyeshadow would be on and the vinyl would be my hinge.  The vinyl came from a bag with a zip top for holding travel size bottles.  I never used it for that as I had other solutions, but kept it around just in case.  So far I was ok with this plan.

So I cut out the mat board of backing, cut magnets the right size.  I needed to cut the corners as my tin has rounded edges.  I also needed to cut them a little smaller as the tin has a rolled edge.  After cutting these pieces I taped it all together to do a test fit. I was really glad I did the test fit mock up, as I did not like the book idea because of having them in the tin box.  Instead I decided I would be happy with just layering the 3-4 palettes in the box.  I did keep the vinyl as a tab to lift them out.

Next I considered whether the palette needed edges/framing or not.  The ones I see on Etsy have sides where the pans go.  The ones I saw in the DIY section on Pinterest used foam core board.  Initially I made one board without the edges and tried it.  
This stage was adding the fancy paper around my mat board.  This was super easy, just glue to one side of the mat board and then make cuts to the paper to allow it to be folded over smoothly and glued down.
Using double sided adhesive sheets to adhere the magnet to the board and having the vinyl sandwiched between magnet and covered board.  It was sticking out about an inch.

I tested this with the pans on it and my conclusion was that the edges/frame was needed.  Especially they were needed since my magnets weren't as strong as I liked.  So I cut a piece of foam core board slightly smaller than the covered mat board.  Then I measured ¼” in from all the edges and cut out a rectangle from the inside.  The ones I was seeing elsewhere were much wider – maybe ½” or more.  I don’t see why I should waste the space.

Covering the foam core piece was more difficult with it being a cutout.  So I determined I would just go with strips of foam core for the next one.  In each corner I had to add a strip of paper to the inside of the foam core section to cover it. 

To avoid having to cover the foam core with paper – one solution I think is being used on the ones on Etsy is black foam core board.  Either that or they are painting it all black.  Another seller was using wood that was painted in a coordinating color.  If I had black foam board, I might have gone that route.  Painted wood seems more work, although the paper covering may be fiddly and about the same.

Because my magnet was already adhered to the covered board, I just trimmed the magnet to fit inside my new covered foam core frame.  Gluing the frame to the paper covered mat board backing.

So here is the first one.

I knew I was going to make at least two more.  For these two I went with different paper.  My paper is smaller and so I had to work with that.  But over all I think these were easier to make.

These were made from 3 ¼” x 5 1/8” pieces of mat board.  The corners were trimmed off at an angle – not rounded.  The foam core frames were made from ¼” wide strips of foam core.  I glued the short ends on first.  These were glued flush to the outer edge.  Used the board as a guide to trim the foam strips to match the board.  Next I trimmed the long strips to fit between but only glued one in place.

The flat board of number two was glued to the paper with glue stick and number 3 with modge podge.  No difference with that.

I then began wrapping the paper over the rest of the board and frame together.  When I did this I cut straight cuts wherever possible.   The long piece was easily wrapped with my paper but the sides I had to add an extra piece inside the frame to make sure to cover the foam core.  Again this was due to my paper size that wasn’t big enough.
One solution to this would be to cover the board first.  It only needs to overlap less than ½” on the magnet side.  Then use another piece of a paper to cover each of the four pieces for the frame separately.   
I did exactly that to cover the 4^th long frame piece I had set aside due to adding my vinyl tab/handle.  To add the vinyl,  I used packing tape to hold it in place on the mat board (partially covered side).  I cut it shorter than the width of the inside of the frame.  This allowed the 4^th frame piece to be glued to the board at the ends.
Wrapping the paper over the frame pieces especially around corners was fiddly, but to keep it as neat as possible, I folded and creased first.  Then cut wherever was needed so I could wrap it neatly.  Ideally I wanted the entire white foam core board frame pieces to be covered with paper.
Once all was covered, I cut the magnet sheet to fit into the frame area.  For number two I had applied some double sided adhesive sheet that I had.  For number three I had bought some magnet sheets that have adhesive on them.  For number two I also had to piece together the magnet as was too narrow, but when the pans are in place this is not noticeable at all.
So here is all three palettes laid out.

The vinyl tabs don't show well in the pics, but they are there and are used to pick up the palette from the box. If one wanted to instead the tab could be made of paper.
I did coat number two and three with several layers of modge podge.  I will go back and do that for number one and number four if I make it, which I plan to.
All three of these palettes allow me to rearrange and play with my makeup far more than ever before.
All my spares are housed in the aol tin.

I haven't yet, but I am thinking I will add some decorative tape or paper to the outside of my tin box. 
I still have the third tin box, so once I make number four palette I can use that as my spare storage space for the makeup included other such as lip gloss or eye liner but I will make sure to have a divider like plastic or vinyl between.  
If I do make number four, I will try to take pictures as I go and update this blog post.  Plus share my other tin that has the brushes and eyeliner.