Refreshed: Old Tea Tins

As an Incorrigible Tea Drinker, I amass an outrageous number of tea boxes over time.  They're usually made from paper, which I can just unfold and toss into the recycle bin when the tea's all gone.  However, some of my family's favorite teas come in decorative tins, with pretty colors and prints that hark back to times past.  Besides thrifting - which is a worthy end in itself - I've started finding ways to keep these tea tins and put them to good use.

This little tin once contained Jasmine Tea by Sunflower.  I found it to be the perfect size for holding pens and pencils, and it's been gracing my desk for several years now.

On the top of my dresser sits this larger tin, Hot Cinnamon Sunset by Harney & Sons.  Lidless, it holds all my perfume bottles and keeps them standing upright, avoiding unwanted accidents/leaks.  The color and design go with my room's decor, which is a major plus!

Those are just a couple of visual examples - there's much more you could use tea tins for:

• Bookends . . . Fill a tin with pebbles, close the lid, and add it to your bookshelf as functional decor.
• Bank . . . Collect your loose change in style.
• Candy box . . . Misleading?  Yes.  Something I would do?  Totally.
• Makeup organizer . . . Camouflage your gigantic lipstick collection.
• Knick-knack storage . . . You know, just a place to put the paper clips, buttons, USB drives, and other odds-and-ends lying on your desk.

How do you reuse tins (tea or otherwise)?