Tea Tin for Teacher

A few days ago I expressed my love for Teavana here. Now that I am back to school, I will be drinking Teavana tea like it is going out of style. (It isn't. If I had my way it would NEVER go out of style.) I honestly think I consume four or five very large mugs of tea throughout the day. It helps that our little school coffee shop has an urn of hot water just for me! (OK, it isn't just for me, but it could be.)

When you buy your tea at Teavana, the very helpful and knowledgeable sales people will ask if you have an air tight tin in which to store your new purchase. They will then try to sell you a canister that ranges from $4.50 to $34.95. If you are like me and you purchase multiple flavors to add to the multiple flavors you already have at home, even those $4.50 tins add up. And I'm completely ignoring the fact that the less expensive tin is so not cute or decorative and thus not really an option. So, what do you do?

I always contemplate getting a tin or two to add to what I have. (I already have four from the wonderful Starter Kit beau got me for my birthday.) I always reconsider when the helpful salesperson tells me my total. I always worry beau would divorce** me if he actually heard that number, so adding to it never seems like a good idea.

As I was trying to get the unfinished kitchen in order and organized before I went back to school, I came across this tea tin with one tea bag inside.

This tea tin with one bag inside is air tight. Like the ones that are available at Teavana. But this one, my dear friends, is free. In my excitement I dumped the one tea bag into the trash. (I know, waste is bad. But I don't like Pumpkin and that same one bag of tea has been in the cabinet since before I started dating beau a year and a half ago. It was time to go even though it was in an air tight tin and probably still fresh.)

I peeled the label off and found a canister that looked much like the plain Jane $4.50 canisters (minus the logo, of course).

I could have just washed that badboy and had an industrial looking canister. But who wants that when you've got fabric and a hot glue gun?

I cut a piece of fabric left over from my little bench refinishing project (here).

Then I ironed a fold along the upper and lower edges to get rid of those fly-away threads and get a nice straight line.  Because I don't have the fabric for the curtains I hope to make (fingers crossed that I can learn to sew), this project is a rough draft. This fabric won't match the finished kitchen, so it'll have to be redone when I find the perfect fabrics. When I do that I'll use Therm O Web's HeatnBond to make the ironed fold stay permanently. Just imagine I did that here.

No, I did not iron directly on the granite. (Though I don't think it would matter.) The towel I ironed on clashed with the fabric and was just too ugly to be photographed. We all have bad days.

Next, I used my trusty hot glue gun to glue the edge of the fabric to the canister, wrapped the fabric around and glued the other edge (with a fold for a perfect seam) to the starting point. I also suggest a few dots of glue along the top and bottom of the canister to keep the edges against the canister.

Here's what I got.

Teavana puts removable labels on the bags of tea you buy, so I removed it from the bag and added it to the top of my now custom canister.

Now, when I am bleary eyed at the crack of dawn, my caffeine savior will be easy to find, fresh AND pretty. Whoo hoo. Who wouldn't want this scene to get the morning rolling?

My totally, 100% free project took me less than ten minutes, was easy enough for even me to do, and is completely functional. When I decide on my fabric for kitchen curtains, I'm going to redo this canister and all of the starter kit canisters. You can look for me in Martha Stewart Magazine*** then.

**No, we are not married. Don't worry moms, we'll let you know in a way other than a blog post. Perhaps even before the fact so you can, you know, witness the blessed event****.

*** That is a blatant lie. I will not be featured in Martha Stewart's magazine. Probably ever. Especially now that I have admitted to being a liar. Sigh.

**** In no way am I suggesting that said blessed event is right around the corner, so stop rolling your eyes, beau.

What was your easiest DIY project so far? Curtains, perhaps? Do share!