Does anyone know how many coffee mugs they’ve received as gifts over the years? We have them in all shapes, sizes and colors…. We’ve lost some (probably without even noticing it)…. We’ve also kept some, especially those with the most unique designs or those from extra special events.

Coffee mugs are amongst the most common freebies or giveaways during corporate events because they’re readily available, easy to customise and very affordable. For these same reasons the coffee mug is under-appreciated by most of us. We’d much rather receive something else at the next office party, right?

At Work

The lowly coffee mug is actually multi-functional and versatile. Use it to hold all your pens and pencils and it becomes a pen holder. Use another one as a paper clip holder, a coin bank, a candy jar, a flower vase if you have one deep enough or you can even park your mobile phone in it! A few coffee mugs set side by side can become your very own unique and decorative desk organiser.

For the Family

Take a few of your mugs home and assign one to each member of the family. You don’t have to buy and settle for a set of identical (boring) coffee mugs when everybody can have their own; distinct from everybody else. Personalised mugs don’t necessarily have to bear somebody’s name. Give the strawberry-shaped mug to your carefree and fun-loving daughter; the lemon-colored one that looks more like a bowl to your spouse; the plastic Spongebob cutie to your little one whilst you keep the classic black for yourself.

Around the Home

  • Coffee mugs that you’ve been keeping for a few years and are now cracked and discolored with age can be turned into charming seedling planters or mini herb pots to line your kitchen windows.
  • There are mugs that would make really nice candle holders to safely catch all the wax drippings.
  • Fill a few old mugs with aromatic oils and turn them into improvised oil lamps at strategic spots inside your home.
  • Every time a button comes loose, drop them into a designated button mug. Control the clutter by using your old coffee mugs as receptacles for various knick-knacks that would otherwise be left lying around.
  • You don’t need a fancy toothbrush holder when an ordinary coffee mug will do the trick just as well. Whilst toothbrush holders don’t actually cost too much, your coffee mug came absolutely free, courtesy of your last corporate party!

For Friends

Need a new way of packaging your gifts? Presents these days do not always come in a box. All you need is a little imagination and some creativity. An old coffee mug can be stuffed with some gourmet chocolate, dressed-up with oversized ribbons and voila! You have a cute and innovative treat for your friends!

Try to find fun and inventive uses for all those souvenir mugs you’ve collected over the years. Instead of letting them gather dust on your desk or around your home, why not transform your coffee mug collection into whatever suits your fancy? A coffee mug by any other name…. is entirely up to you!