February 21, 2011

Tarte Jewelry Box - DEPOTTED!!!

I haven't used my Tarte Jewelry Box as much as I wanted after moving back to Los Angeles.  When I lived in Dallas, I had a lot of counter space in my bathroom that I could devote to this megabox.  But in Los Angeles, where space is a commodity, I don't have the luxury so the TJB has been in storage.

[Tarte Jewelry Box review here]

Well, I finally received my Z Palettes and I can't wait to make my Tarte products be more accessible by getting rid of that bulky packaging!  Mr. P is helping me with this project by watching the flame and taking the pictures.  *There is something comforting about a man who supports his woman's hobby, right?*

[Z Palette review here]

This is a very picture heavy post on how I depotted the Tarte Jewelry Box to make the products easier to access. 

Just a brief couple of words of caution, I used the flame method to depot the Tarte shadows.  For anyone reading this and getting ideas, please use caution and common sense.  For youngsters, please have a parent or guardian supervise you.  I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damage anyone/anything sustains. 


Tarte Jewelry Box

Using an Exacto knife, I removed the buckles to use them on my key chain.

Use a hair dryer to heat the plastic.


I used a letter opener to pry the bottom off the drawer.

Use a hair dryer to heat the plastic.

Use a letter opener to pry off the bottom of the box.
Now, with the bottom removed, it is easier to use the flame method to melt the plastic.

If candle takes too long, you can still use a lighter.

When the plastic has melted and the glue has heated up, you can use
the letter opener to poke out the pan.  You have to melt the plastic enough though.


It is okay to put the pans upside down on CLEAN tissues.

Cut out a piece of Adhes-A-Mag to fit the bottom of the pan.


Now you are ready to put the pan in the Z Palette.


You can use the flame method on the glosses as well.


Be careful with overheating the glosses.  As you can see, this is
the first casualty of the depotting project.  *weeping*

When placing the gloss pans face down to affix the Adhes-A-Mag,
use a sheet of plastic wrap to protect your glosses.



Unfortunately, this gloss lost a lot of product that I needed to clean up.

Remove the wing from the box using Exacto knife.

Remove this sticker bottom from the bottom of the wing.


There is a hole in the wing.  DON'T. BE. FOOLED.

Poking through that hole on the bottom of the wing will get you nowhere.

Use the flame method to remove the eye shadows.


I didn't melt the plastic enough and cracked the shadow. :'(

Remove the other wing and depot the shadows, same as the first wing.

Remove the mirror.

Used a lighter to make it easier.

Mr. P alerted me that the plastic itself had caught fire!

The plastic melted enough to poke the pan out through the bottom.

Uh oh.  I didn't melt the plastic enough and forced the pan out,
resulting in a crack through the eye shadow.


Haha, I burned a hole straight through the plastic.

Start fitting the magnetic sheets to the pans.

1 UNII palette, 3 Z Palettes.  Not shown is my 2nd UNII palette.




I hope this post has helped some people who have been interested in depotting their products or trying to make their TJB's more user friendly.  

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

My goodness. I really want to do this to mine now. I didn't realize that I don't have to live with that horrible packaging. Did you feel that you could fit all of it in 1 Z palette or would you recommend purchasing 2?

Kusanagi said...

LOL! It IS a packaging problem. Great products, but impractical packaging. :)

If you plan on depotting the entire Jewelry Box, I'd recommend buying 3 large Z palettes. I thought I could fit everything in 2 Z palettes, but the palettes are smaller than they appear online (IMHO). Good luck! :D

Beatriz said...

AMAZING!!! I have been wanting to do this to my jewelry box too!!! you're genius!!

Kusanagi said...

Thank you! Let me know how it works out for you! ^_^

The Cake Fashionista! said...

I just bought the pro Z palette to depot my jewelry box. I'm hoping I can fit all the eyeshadows into it. I'm not crazy on the big bronzer and highlighter, so i'll probably forget about those. Nice job picking through the hard plastic! I hope I have the same luck. :)

Kusanagi said...

@ The Cake Fashionista! Good luck with depotting your box! Let me know how it turned out and if all the eyeshadows fit into the pro Z palette ^_^

Cindyy said...

I'm so glad I found your post. I have the Tarte Treasure Chest and I've been wanting to depot it for months!! I'm waiting on some Etsy freedom palettes in the mail at the moment so I'm ready to depot! I had found another girl's post on how she depotted her treasure chest but I was a little wary of her method (sticking sections in the oven to mass melt the plastic). I much prefer your method!

Kusanagi said...

Hi Cindyy! Thanks for bringing the Etsy Freedom Palettes to my attention. I went to check them out and they are amazing! I will definitely buy them when I have my next depotting party. LOL. Good luck with your depotting project! I'd be really interested to know how that goes for you. Take care! :-)

ilove2singnplay said...

Hey I wondered if you were succesful in fiting all shadows into 1 pro palette. I've been looking at palettes for a few months now wanting to depot my jewelry box, also cause I broke the box itself by accident. Would you let me know how it goes?

mai-anne said...

oh my gosh, i friggin love you, i really wanted to depot my one!! can't wait to do this now!! thank you for your effort! :)

Kusanagi said...

@elaera You're very welcome! I hope you have as much as I did when I depotted everything. Good luck with your project! :-)

Laura said...

Hiya! I'm trying to figure out what z palettes to get. I also have the jewellery box - would the Tarte eyeshadows fit 8 across in the pro palette?

Kusanagi said...

@Laura
Hi Laura! Thanks for your question! I will email you your answer. :-)

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