For the most part, I attempted to make my art outside kits from things I already had on hand. With one exception, I bought an Art Tool Kit Demi Palette. Empty of course. But I added a selection of  pans to accompany it.

When it arrived I realized it is a mini version of a business card holder. If you are of an age to have been around business people in the 90s and early 2000s, you know the kind of card case I mean. Thin aluminum that held a stack of 12 or so cards secure. I read a review where a woman confidently ranted that the ATK palettes were the same as thrifted cigarette cases*. I can confidently refute this.

Anyway, you can get a card case on amazon still for not too much money. Or even AliExpress for less if you want to wait.

You’ll have to add some peel and stick magnetic sheet to the inside to get it to work as a palette. And you’ll have to buy some pans. Plus cover the lid with some white paint or plastic. BUT it’s doable. The DIY approach has an issue- the lid does NOT have edges, so paint has a tendency to flow off of it. There are solutions- a bead of hot glue around the edges. Heck if you don’t want to get sheets of magnetic stuff, you can hot glue the pans down.

Of you can go ahead and order a knock off of the current ATK and TN version of this palette. You can also get them in stainless steel.

The knock offs have some issues. The magnetic sheet inside is weak. The pans slide around in mine a lot. I solved this by adding in a magnetic sheet from a reminder magnet that my health insurance sent me. But I also have some sheet magnets that worked pretty well at adding some oomph to the ability of the magnets to hold things in place.

My favorite travel palette of all time is this one, minus the crappy little trays they include for paint. I use my own pans hot glued in place. I spray painted the inside of the lid white for a deep mixing well. It’s awesome. The downside is that it’s plastic. The ATK eliminates almost all plastic in their design. I like this a lot. All plastic eventually breaks down, and I like the ATK pans much more than I expected, especially the medium square size. The narrower size is a bit too skinny for me to get my brush into easily and not slop it everywhere. BUT that square size is about perfect.

Another good point of the ATK and it’s clones is that it is modular. The little pans are inexpensive and can be easily swapped out. Traditional pans are easily swapped out. Remember hot glue can be removed with a flood of isopropyl alcohol. (I think even vodka works.) The slim package and modular pans really are selling points.

*There are vintage cigarette holders that are very similar to the ATK palette in size, but they are much thicker and a bit longer. You can of course make a palette out of one but you can also go to the dollar store and get a makeup palette and wash out the makeup and use that. Or just, you know, use a mint tin.