10 Ways to Use Your Fruitcake Tin

How Do You Use Your Empty Fruitcake Tin?

We recently asked this question to our loyal customers and, boy oh boy, did you all respond! Your submissions came pouring in, telling us all the innovative, fun, and memorable ways you’ve found for upcycling and enjoying your empty DeLuxe® Fruitcake tins. We loved all your responses so much, we wanted to share the stats! That’s why we’ve compiled all your answers, separated them into categories, and crunched the math. Here’s our final breakdown of how our leftover tins of fruitcake are put to use.

Storing Homemade Treats - 29%

This was by far THE most popular answer. For most, it only seemed fitting to replenish the stock of goodies once stored in our tins! Customers shared a variety of treats they enjoy making, baking, and storing including cookies, fudge, rum balls, truffles, and trail mix!

Storing Arts & Crafts Supplies - 25%

If you use your empty tin to store craft supplies, you’re in good company. This was the second most popular answer. Here is just the shortlist of some items people recalled storing in their tins: sewing kits, sewing needles, embroidery floss, colored pencils, thread, iron-on patches, sidewalk chalk, appliques, crayons, pincushions, seam rippers, hot glue sticks, scissors, stickers, and MORE!

”When we were kids, my younger brother and I would occasionally sleep over at our grandparent's home… One of the things we'd do was to color in coloring books and the crayons were all kept in a Collin Street Bakery Fruitcake tin. So now, some 45 years later, I sent my brother a DeLuxe® Fruitcake for this past Christmas. On Christmas Day, I get a text from him: "Hey, Big Brother, thanks for the crayon box - but, there's a fruitcake in it!" - J. Fontaine from Newberry, NM

FUN FACT: The number one craft supply stashed in our tins was… buttons!

Regifting Our Tins At Holiday Time - 15%

Most people said they’d save their tin for a whole year and reuse it as a suitable gift container come the following Christmas. Because of our tin’s airtight seal, many people admitted to using the tin to give friends and family their own baked goodies.

General Storage - 7%

Most people who claimed to use their tins as ‘general storage’ didn’t really have one specific thing they chose to store. This answer appeared to be a categorical catchall for items too small and too varied to classify anywhere else. Thus their tins acted as a kind of junk drawer. Items that fell into this category included gift tags, pocket calculators, guitar picks, legos, catnip, decks of cards, seashells, marbles, army men, and flower seeds.

Storing Memories & Cards - 6%

We found this category to contain some very touching responses. People really poured their hearts out, sharing how they used our tins to store wedding invitations, save the dates, birthday cards, personal letters, prayer cards, love letters, and timeless photos.

”Given as a gift, I use mine to store love letters and cards from my husband, who died suddenly, three years ago. My children & grandkids will discover them one day when I join my Love in Heaven!!” - Kathleen M. from Isle, MN

Home Decor - 5%

Of course, our tins were used as a decoration! They have been thoughtfully designed to be displayed and cherished. Not surprisingly, many people reported using their tins as decoration around the holiday seasons. We expected to hear this; our DeLuxe® Fruitcake is a Christmas staple.

Storing Money - 4%

A handful of people shared how they use our tins as makeshift piggy banks. Perfect for storing everything from coins to receipts and even sometimes bills, our tins provided a safe place to keep people’s miscellaneous monetary odds and ends.

”We use [our tin] for holding loose change throughout the year. Then at Easter, we fill plastic eggs with the change and scatter them all over the lawn and have the grandchildren "find the eggs." So no one misses out, we put the same amount of money in each egg and each kid gets to pick the same number of eggs. Good fun for all!” - Tom G. from Warminster, PA

Storing Kitchen Supplies - 3%

Teabags, coffee beans, cookie cutters, and corn pokers, are just some of the kitchen staples that have been stashed in our tins. Many seemed to be of the belief since our tins were kept in the kitchen, they should stay in the kitchen.

”I keep brown sugar in one tin and it keeps it nice and soft!” - Jo B. from Highland, CA

Storing Tools - 3%

Who needs a tool organizer when you have a Collin Street Bakery tin? No matter how methodically you separate all your nuts, bolts, screws, washers, and nails into those tiny, little cubbies, they are all just going to become jumbled anyways. Might as well save yourself some time and frustration by simply choosing that path from the beginning.

Storing Jewelry & Makeup - 3%

Cute little makeup and jewelry cases are alright, but oftentimes they don’t do a very good job of protecting your valuables and compacts. That’s why some Collin Street Bakery customers use their tins as travel cases for their more dainty and delicate items.

”I reuse my tin for 100's reasons but my fave is to pack it with my makeup or jewelry when I travel… Not only do the tins keep my jewelry from knotting or my makeup from bursting, but no one messes with the tins because it's only a FRUITCAKE ;)” - Sandra H. from Boerne, TX

Some Unique, Note-Worthy Responses

All the responses we received were absolutely amazing and noteworthy! However, some responses were much more unexpected than others. Here are some of the more unique responses we received for what some people put in their leftover fruitcake tins.

First Aid Kits

Plants

Dog Treats

Desert Rocks

Electronic Chargers

Matchbooks

Bird Seed

Care Packages for the Homeless

Tears

”When my fruitcake tin is empty, I fill it with my tears because I have no more fruitcake." - Elise K. from Groves, TX

How Do You Use Your Tin?

If you didn’t get a chance to share your response, it’s not too late! Tell us how you use your tin in the comments below.