Tiny Tins: Repurposing Impulse Buys Into Condom Cases

Running into Walgreens on some now-forgotten errand I saw a $2 sign over some stocking stuffers and thought I’d have a look. Two dollars is the magic number for impulse buys. Three dollars is too much and one dollar makes the item in question seem junky. Two dollars is the baby bear's porridge. 

Among the $2 items were some tiny tins - seriously - about two square inches, bright and cheery with pictures of Minnie Mouse on them. In one you can see Mickey's hands holding a tablet with Minnie on it which she's looking flirty and saying “Hi Mickey!” (maybe they're Skyping?) The tins contain microfiber cloths for cleaning your phone or tablet. 

Also, I thought, they'd make perfect little condom cases. 

I bought one, took it home and tried it out. Several brands of condoms fit perfectly, including One (with the

rounded, artsy packaging) and Lifestyles. The tin was the perfect size to hold three condoms of these brands and a tiny packet of lube. The brands Trojan and Magnum (made by Trojan) didn’t fit but a return trip to Walgreens found another tin by the same company, Cotton Buds, this one larger and containing cotton swabs, with Mickey and Minnie on the cover. The Trojans fit comfortably in these.

In case you’re wondering why an old woman of 50, like myself, has a selection of condoms fit for a hooker with OCD,  it’s because I recently went to The Center here in Orlando and got my free HIV test. After getting my results (negative) I was sent away with a baggie bulging with condoms and lube packets. The Center has these things sitting out on the counters like party mints and I had already stuffed some in my purse, right next to the hot mustard I walked away from a Chinese restaurant with the other day. Heaven help the man I'm with if I ever mix those packets up.

That’s why I have enough condoms to have sex with one man for two weeks, two men for one week or a KPop band for the weekend.

Here's why a condom case is a good idea: Not long ago my phone case fell apart in my purse; the wire holding the hinges together stuck out and went right through a condom like skewer through chicken satay. Of course most of us don’t keep pokey things in our purses but you never know - an unsheathed sheath can get damaged any number of ways and you might as well keep your safety equipment safe. 

The cases travel well and are quite discreet: festooned with Disney icons no one would ever guess how they’d been repurposed (just don’t let a kid find them or you’ll have to explain why that Fruit Roll-Up tastes like a balloon). I’ve already sold one guy on the larger Mickey-and-Minnie one (it’s slightly more butch, what with Mickey on it and all).

It just occurs to me that an Altoids tin could work just as easily - it’s one use The Art of Manliness missed in its spiffy list of ways to recycle the container for the “curiously strong mints.” Pocket tackle box and morse code oscillator, yes, condom case, no. 

Even Cotton Buds, the maker of the Mickey and Minnie tins along with some other useful travel products, notes they are “not just recyclable, reusable!” 

Indeed. 

Bottom line: $2 is cheaper than a pregnancy, so this is an impulse buy you might want to plan. 

After all, better safe than “Mommy.”