The Vintage Cookie Tins You Should Grab Immediately If You Find Them At The Thrift Store

Cookie tins are a great way to keep holiday baked good fresh, or to use so you can package them up to gift to others. But much like vintage kitchen storage jars, cookie tins can also be reused in a myriad of ways. Use tins to store sewing supplies, parts for your kitchen gadgets, and other miscellaneous items that are making your kitchen shelves look cluttered. 

While cookie tins are relatively inexpensive when they're new, some older tins are collector's items and may be worth more than you think. You just need to know what to look out for when thrift store shopping. Keep an eye out for Disney tins, Hello Kitty tins, and other pop culture cookie tin designs.

Disney has been manufacturing collectible cookie tins for decades. Vintage tins feature beloved fairy tale characters like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella as well as popular Disney icons like Mickey and Minnie Mouse and characters from "Frozen." These cookie tins will not only remind you of your childhood or favorite Disney movies, but they are also a really cute item to have on display in your kitchen. If you are looking for rare or valuable cookie tins to add to your collection, keep an eye out for Disney tins from the 1930s and 1940s, especially non-American designs, as those tend to be worth more.

You can also look for collectible tins that will add a fun and whimsical touch to your home decor as well as potentially increase in value over the years. Hello Kitty designs have only grown more and more popular in the 51 years they have been appearing on merchandise from backpacks and lunch boxes to T-shirts and home goods. There have even been a wide range of successful Hello Kitty food collabs over the years. Hello Kitty items still have a viral popularity, and new items often sell out quickly in stores like Home Goods and TJ Maxx. If you see Hello Kitty tins featuring the beloved character, you should scoop them up as fast as you can.

In addition to Disney tins and Hello Kitty tins, collectible tins featuring other popular characters from movies and TV are some of the most valuable kitchen decor items you should look out for. This includes Marvel and DC Comics characters like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman. You should also look for tins that promote popular movies and TV shows, like "Friends," "Beetlejuice," "Lord of the Rings," and "Doctor Who." These are likely to increase in value over the years, or at least become sought-after collector's items that are easy to re-sell.