I couldn't tell you when it began. All's I knows is how wonderful they are for holdin' stuff not to mention pretty cool to look at. Very few of these are empty. I use large ones as canisters and small ones to hold fiddly li'l objects like nails, all the tags from every bush, tree, etc. that I ever planted, etc. Yikes. Save me. 
Some of my favorites came with cookies in them and have windup music boxes in the lids.
I've given several tins away, but I'm a thinkin' it didn't hurt me any.
The next three tins are old popcorn tins. Goodman loves his popcorn so I always get him one when they're fresh in the stores. This is my favorite of them. I could live in that scene. I'm keepin' dog food in it. 
I like the lid of this one.
I keep bird seed in this one.
This is the only tin that I keep yarn in, but it holds quite a few balls of dishcloth cotton. 
Um, no this isn't all the tins I have, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. ;) If you enjoyed perusin' these pictures of my tins I can tell you I'm not the only person who collects them. Recently, as I was cruisin' Ravelry I ran across a new group called What's In Your Altoid Tin?. There you can find some nifty ideas on how knitters use and alter empty tins. I rarely alter mine except for the time I threw one in a fire to burn off the paint. It worked very well. Goodman used it for making char cloth and as a tinderbox back when we did living history reenactments.I made this fleece blanket last week for Firstborn's birthday. The tutorial is in the sidebar.
Have I been knitting? Yes, some. Have I been crocheting? Yes, but I've been loafin' alot more. Truth is good. See you next week, the Good Lord willing!
