I've been buying a bunch of canned whole tomatoes recently. You know why? Because everything tastes better doused in marinara sauce (my recipe: add sautéed garlic, some spinach, salt, pepper and whatever other spices I feel like). But also because I love repurposing the tin cans! They've become one of my favorite organization tools - mainly because there's something so attractive about that striped tin and they come in all different sizes. Next time you open up a can of food, think twice before chucking the container. Give it a good rinse with some soap and repurpose the daylights outta that thing. Here are a few of my favorite ways to do so:

1) Pen/Pencil Holder for Your Desk. First of all, every desk should have some sort of a container for pens, pencils, highlighters and scissors. In this case, cue the tin can! You can take things one step further and wrap some rubber bands around the can and keep those guys from ending up all over the place and easy to access.

2) Art Supply Bin. If you're an artist (or an aspiring artist - I don't judge), tin cans are fab for containing your brushes, markers, or colored pencils. You can even go nuts and get multiple cans for each type of medium. You can even go more nuts and bedazzle the cans because you're an artist and you like to do that kinda stuff.

3) Non-Piggy-Shaped Piggy Bank. You shouldn't have change strewn around your room. When you lift your couch pillows or move your bed, you shouldn't find a coin mint. Contain those nickels, dimes, pennies, and quarters. And when you're heading out to buy something small, grab a bunch of change. My theory is that if you pay with change, what you're buying is free. So don't lose it all and keep it housed in a tin can until it's being used.

4) Kitchen Utensil Container. If you need to free up some space in your kitchen drawer and you have extra counter space, it's great to get those bulkier utensils into a...TIN CAN! Place your new knick-knack by the stovetop since you'll be using these kitchen utensils while you're cooking. Make sure you use a larger can here since those gadgets can be quite cumbersome.