13 creative ideas for recycling old kitchen frying pans and pots
There is no kitchen where there is not at least one pan for frying, or a pan for sautéing vegetables (and many other foods). Pans are indispensable utensils in the kitchen, which we tend to use regularly, and so they wear out over time. Even if you are very careful to treat each pan properly, it is inevitable, over time, that they will degrade and no longer be of use.
But this doesn't mean ruined pans should be thrown away: if you want to try your hand at creative recycling, you could make some nice decorations for your home and garden with them.
From old frying pan to rustic blackboard
A nice but also useful idea is to transform pans into blackboards. They are small enough not take up too much wall space, are easy to hang, and provide enough room on their bottoms for writing.
Simply paint the pan, after having cleaned it perfectly, with blackboard paint. This can be bought ready-made, but also prepared at home by mixing a little powdered grout with the chosen paint (and you can use any color too - not just black)!
If you happen to like the idea of writing on the outside of the pan better, that will work too - and maybe it even offers more space. Whatever shape and size you like... then just get your chalk and you're done!
Old pans transformed into works of art
Another way to recycle old pans and saucepans in a creative way is to turn them into customized, handmade decorations! For example, you can decorate them with a colorful mosaic.
If you know how to paint, then free to use your imagination! Flowers, animals, landscapes and everything you can think of, can be painted in/on pans. Suitable decals or stickers might also help!
And even the kids can have fun: perhaps creating a cute scene with painted pebbles - halfway between a three-dimensional painting and a mosaic.
Damaged pots and pans make fantastic planters for succulents
How about using old pots and pans as planted? For example, you could recreate a miniature garden in a pan with succulents, some pebbles and potting soil.
You can also have fun using composing the shapes and colors of the infinite varieties of succulents in your pan-cum-planter.
And if you like, your planter pot or pan for succulents could even be hung up in the garden.
Transform old pans into wall clocks
This is one of the most popular DIY ideas for pans: paint the pan, get some clockwork mechanisms online (you can choose from many different styles), draw on the numbers (or use stickers) and there you have it! A rustic styled clock for your home.
This is an idea that lends itself to decorating walls in a rustic, country or even shabby-chic style.
Other ideas for recycling pots and pans
In the garden, you could use an old pan as a birdbath, where they can drink in peace. As long as it is installed off the ground, the birds will feel safe.
And since we're talking about painting and decorating, why not do something for Halloween, Christmas or Easter - there is never a shortage of creative ideas!
Have you found a way to recycle your old pans?
