1/ Refill your tea tin with loose tea.
Let's start with the obvious: why not refill your tea tin... with tea? At Kusmi, all teas are also sold loose, to reduce packaging waste. An economical, practical and eco-friendly solution that works endlessly! Recyclable metal tea tins are specially designed to protect loose tea from moisture and heat to preserve all its flavours. Of course, this is also possible with other foodstuffs (lentils, rice, seeds, pulses…), just add a label to keep things clear.
2/ Turn it into a pencil holder.
Here's a DIY for the lazy ones: keep the tea tin as it is, change nothing, except what you put inside! It can hold pens, felt tips, chalks, coloured pencils. But also cutlery or dried flowers. Children can keep their small toys or their first treasures in it (beads, pebbles, shells…).
3/ Pour a candle into it.
Jam jars aren't the only containers that can be saved to make candles—tea tins work just as well. To avoid getting hot wax everywhere or drowning the wick, we recommend following a DIY tutorial. At least for the first time. Here is a very detailed one, where every step is illustrated with a photo. Thank you, Soho Hana! Looking for a candle DIY? You've come to the right place.
4/ Grow a plant in it.
More original than terracotta pots and more stylish than plastic ones, tea tins can hold and showcase plants. Follow the guide with this article detailing how to repot a cactus and how to grow mint. Top tip: you can even buy ready-grown mint if you don't have the patience to grow it from scratch!
5/ How about a bedside lamp?
Here is a bedside lamp DIY that certainly has the merit of being original!
Admittedly, it requires a bit more technique—perhaps even help from an expert—but there are more and more "fab labs" and maker workshops available for guidance. Méli Mélo, a German blogger, explains how she repurposed a tea tin given to her by a friend by adding a lightbulb and a power cord. She even mentions that her father helped her, especially with drilling the holes for the plug and cable. Ambitious!