I have in my dorm room a drawer which I refer affectionately to as “the Graveyard.”
This drawer contains memories of minty freshness, of red and white metal, of crackling paper, of curious strength… it has my empty Altoid tins, and they have served me well.
Some of them have special purposes. I use one to store buttons, another for Qtips. Some of them were on hand for special moments in my life- the production of my first play, my first day at school…moments I cherish. But those are uncommon tins, and the vast majority lay happily in my drawer.
I counted today. I have in my room 65 empty tins. One is a tiny tin. Two are the Valentine’s Day heart-shaped edition, complete with heart-shaped mints. One is a Big Tin, one is a special edition silver domed Big Tin. The rest are the “regular” tin- so common, yet so noble. They all have within them the lingering scent of peppermint.
I wonder if they’re happy. I wonder if they can be put to better use. My tins might be seeking a bigger, better future, the likes of which could be made into a miniseries or quite possibly a musical. I do not know.
Dopers, I throw myself to your mercy. What would you do with 65 Altoid tins?
I would tack them to the wall. This way when you get enough you can turn you room into a fallout shelter. Also haveing tiny storage coompartments all over could come in handy.
I currently have 47 Penguin Mint tins, plus one Altoid tin. I really need an idea of something to do with them- making a little fort on my desk at work and manning it with Lego archers is fun, but it’s drawing a few too many stares.
Picture Frame al la Altoid
Altoid End table top
Recycle them for Mula$$
Coffins for small rodents, or fish
Worry Dolls furniture
Pool table chalk holder
Hold Mints, theres a thought
Soap Dishes
Door Trimming
Barbie Suitcase
Hold Business cards
Altoid Headboard would really brighten up a room
You could use the top inside to spy around corners
CrazyGlue & pipe cleaners you could have one huge robot!
etc
etc
You could use them to store bobby pins, sewing needles, buttons, toothpicks, Q-tips, safety pins, small pieces of jewelry, etc. You could punch little holes in the top of the boxes, place string through the little holes, and hang the boxes from a Christmas tree. You could line your ceiling with them (Voila! Instant ceiling mirror). You could place beans inside the box and tape it shut for an instant noise maker.
Ah! Something close to my heart! Personally, I find the boxes more useful than the Altoids themselves, which I usually throw away (provide me with a neutral address and they’re yours for the asking).
I stock them with watercolors --the tiny little .17 oz tubes of Winsor & Newton and Holbien for which you overhear middle aged community college art class women cry “Twelve dollars for that little tube!?” in art stores.
An Altoids box is perfect for holding four tubes: Quinacridone magenta (3A: the warm shade), ultramarine blue or, if I suspect I’m going to be doing a landscape of my perpetually overcast city, a cooler Prussian blue, Azo yellow, and either Pthalocynide green or (rarely) the pricier Natural Viridian plus a Magic Rub eraser (cut into thirds) and the nub of a #6 watercolor brush. I have six of these, one for each jacket pocket and my glove compartment, so I’m never caught without. Great for ink pen nibs too.
My advice for a clever college girl with too many Altoids boxes: Go to Target or Walmart, get bulk packs of safety pins, buttons, sewing needles, straight pins, thread, etc. make sewing kits for all the college boys you know.
Single college boys never ever have a sewing needle to darn a sock with nor thread to fix a torn sleeve with nor a button to mend a shirt with when they need it (I know this for a fact. Many of us are so dependant on our mom’s that it just never occurs to us to buy them).
For under ten dollars you can supply every guy you know with something truly handy. If they ask, tell 'em it seemed like a clever use of all those little tins. Strikes me as a
great way to make friends.
I saw a picture in a photo spread from Esquire magazine - they had tacked up about a hundred tins to a wall behind a white sofa. It made a very daring decorating statement. It looked cool as hell, too.
I always through mine away. I’ve been going at a rate of a tin a week for four years, then two tins a week when I started smoking. I would have a whole shitload if I saved them.
My best friend used to store joints and blunts in them, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Here is what happened the first time I met andygirl: we were driving to NYC for the dopefest, and I met her at Dartmouth, in front of a cafe. And she immediately pulled out the BIGGEST tin of altoids I have ever seen in my life. As a poor, deprived Vermont country girl, I had never seen a “Big Tin” before, and was shocked. I told her that in my car, at that moment, was a tin of wintergreen. And a streetfight the likes of which have not been seen since West Wide Story left Broadway almost commenced. However, we agreed to disagree on Altoid flavor, and the trip continued with narry a hitch. Except for the blizzard. And the car dying, then coming to life, but not after andy scared it by breaking a piece off. But I digress…
I say tack 'em all to the wall, and get a photographer friend (everyone has one at a lib arts school…) take a portrait of you. In 30 years you’ll look at it and giggle. Of course, as dorm life goes, you’d have to take it down at the end of the semester. Bah.
I’ve been going at a rate of a tin a week for four years, then two tins a week when I started smoking. I would have a whole shitload if I saved them.