It’s a little crazy, but it’s become a tradition. Every year in mid-December (or sometimes a bit later) David and I run a cookie-baking marathon and then pack up hundreds of Holiday cookies to send to friends and family all over the country. Last year I also started decorating the plain tins that we buy at the Container Store. Given our already time-consuming cookie-palooza, however, my technique needed to be efficient.
I surveyed the basement in Southampton and found cans of red and metallic gold spray paint (which no domestic daddy or diva should ever be without). Then I made a simple stencil that I could reuse to quickly paint a design on all of the lids of the tins.
I started with a single triangular shape and a disk slightly larger than the lids, all cut out of thick paper.
Then I arranged the triangles into the star-like design you see above, traced around them in pencil and then cut them out using a sharp utility knife. I used this stencil over and over again.
On about half of the lids, I started out with a base coat of red and layered on a coat of gold overspray, and I did the reverse with the other half. Once I got the hang of it, the process went quickly, and I was finished in about an hour. I liked the sort of 70s airbrushed look that resulted.
After that, we just lined them up, filled and boxed them, and shipped them out.
This year, Julia’s going to help with the decoration. And don’t worry — I won’t involve spray paint.
