Tin, 50 cents

I was in New York last Easter and I expected to find the shops over there to be as brimming with Easter paraphernalia as ours. But it turns out that when it comes to ever more elaborate ways to package up a bit of chocolate, we are the worse offenders. Just about every branded toy or TV show that enjoys popularity in Australia has a line in Easter merchandise. I think a beautiful foil-wrapped egg is a pleasure in itself, not just stuffing for a novelty tin. Then again, the wheels on this Barbie car tin still turn, which is more than I can say for some of the other vehicular toys we own.

Skinny Santa tin, 50c

 
I love decorative tins, but I don’t love the idea of overpriced, over-packaged foodstuffs. So I’m very grateful to the person who enjoyed the Paton’s Macadamia Royals out of this lovely tin. I have always appreciated Target’s Christmas merchandise using artwork by Paper d’Art, but I’ll be using my tin all year round to store postage stamps. It’s the perfect size and shape for either sitting on the desk or slipping between volumes on the bookshelf. And you will need a receptacle for your postage stamps if you eschew packaging at the post office and buy your stamps loose or by the sheet.