My Unusual and Useful Uses for CUTE Things! Ideas for your stuff!

I love cute stuff (okay I'm stating the obvious) but I love it even more when I can actually use it everyday.  Cute stuff isn't so cute when it's covered in dust.

I use a cute glass fishbowl to holster all of our remote controls. It looks cute on a coffee table or bookshelf and we always get compliments when we have guests over.

We have a second one that holds all of our pocket change. It looks cute and the wide opening is perfect for sneaking your hand in to grab quarters if you're in a hurry.

You could also use a pretty fishbowl to keep track of receipts or small office supplies that otherwise crowd your desk.

Cover the bottom with beads, marbles, or aquarium rocks for extra cuteness.

I love recycling a pretty vase (especially if it's colored) into something useful that I can enjoy looking at.  I've got a red frosted one in my kitchen for my large obnoxious utensils like wooden spoons and spatulas.  I also have a purple vase in our video game room with about 6 sets of RockBand drumsticks tossed inside like a Rock'n'Roll bouquet.

Vases are also great for pens and pencils, straws, and toothbrushes.  Size and shape can be great for one use but not for another.  I love to buy vases from antique stores.  My local antique stores have e-mail newsletters that advertise special sales or hours and I usually go buy it on sale and with its purpose in mind.

Egg cups are cute and if you've got an especially cute one, use it for more than just Easter or breakfast. I've got a cute pink polka dot one in my bathroom that holds my bobby pins. Use one in the kitchen for toothpicks. Use one in your work space for paperclips.  Now it may not be functional-- but you could display a few with fake eggs in them on a little shelf in your kitchen as cute art.

If you love this idea but don't own any yet, don't worry! Check out your local thrift and antique stores. I picked up this pink and white one at a grocery store around Easter time.  Fake eggs come in different colors and some are more realistic than others. Check your local craft store or online. They're easiest to find in springtime as soon as the Easter stuff hits the shelves.

I have the cutest tins that were purchased from GNC with Tea inside. I don't even drink tea! I bought these JUST for the tins. I display them on a shelf in my master bathroom and each holds something different. I use them for Q-Tip and cotton ball storage. You could also store bobby pins, chap stick, tampons. You could even use them to hide your medicine cabinet undesirables like Preparation H or Monistat cremes.

Use them in the kitchen for coffee, tea, or sugar.

Antique stores have great tins to use for similar purposes. Some are legit while others are modern reproductions, but they're both gorgeous and handy nonetheless.

The tins pictured are color-coded to make it easy for my fiance.  The gold tin has Q-Tips because ear wax is golden brown.  Haha.  Gross-- but useful.  

I love these things. I have a million, but I buy another every year, espcially if it's a new design. My favorite was the "It's a Wonderful Life" tin.

Clean out the popcorn remnants and dry outside without lid if you want to get rid of the popcorn smell. I buy all my Christmas bows on clearance after New Year's for the following holiday season, as well birthdays etc. I keep them lose inside the popcorn tins with the lid secured and the tin stored flat and upright and my bows stay beautiful until I'm ready to use them.

Use them to organize your leftover holiday cards and stationary for next year. Use them for delicate decorations that would otherwise get smashed or misshapen.  The tin in the picture keeps delicate crafting supplies from getting crushed.  Save and fill with cookies and candy and regift next year.

Use them in the kitchen for food storage (flour, rice).

Heather says: I love cute stuff, but I love it even more if I get to see and use it every day. Feel free to share your own unique uses for cute stuff in the comments below.

All pics were taken using the hipstamatic app on my iPhone.