Tin-acity

My mother urged me to pitch them, but I just couldn't do it. And so 42 empty tea tins have again made the move to a new state. The collection has grown a bit since the last move, and is a testament to a near decade of graduate school and teaching in places with blustery winters.

In this world of cardboard and plastic packaging, it's feels wrong to throw anyway anything made of real metal — i.e., not flimsy aluminum. (Thank goodness I don't like Altoids, or I'd probably have dozens of those tins spilling from the cupboards as well.) As for the tea tins, I've peeled their paper wrapping, which leaves me with 42 pleasing metal cylinders. But what to do with them? Does anybody out there have any creative ideas?

I imagined decorating these tins to transform them into some sort of wacky, but useful, homemade gift. I just don't know yet what that gift would be... At five inches tall (sans lid), they're just a little too tall for holding pens. They will hold a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, although the overall effect is awkward. And, anyway, I was hoping to come up with a more creative re-purposing than that!

I've thought about punching holes in them and turning them into candle luminaries. But, to shine brilliantly enough, the cylinders would need to be punched full of enough holes to turn them nearly to lace. I haven't any good idea as to how to go about that, or what sort of tool might do the trick.

Brilliant ideas, anyone? Or just a story to share about other odd stuff that you can't throw away?