Small accessory storage is often an issue.  Many hobbies end up with a bunch of loose bits and bobs that you need to keep track of.  My flashlights for example have special batteries, a charger, instructions for each light, spare o-rings, etc.  I thought about building a series of boxes for small parts storage, but am swamped with projects.  It would be good practice, but I need the storage sooner rather than later.  Enter the humble cigar box.

It turns out you can get a random assortment of cigar boxes for really cheap.  35 bucks for 10 boxes on amazon.  Some weren’t very nice or in good shape, but most were pretty good looking.  They have labels and stickers all over them, but otherwise are gorgeous wooden boxes.  The two pictured above hold my light stuff.  Each one is very unique, so even without applying your own labels, they should be quickly recognizable.  I might try to sand off all the adverts and refinish them, but much of the hardware looks like it wouldn’t come off cleanly.

The list of things someone could use these for is quite long:

• Ukulele accessories
• Board game extras like dice and pencils
• Spare USB cables
• Pocket change
• Specialty tool kits
• Flashlight accessories

Get yourself some old cigar boxes!