8 Genius Ways To Use Old Pots And Pans Instead Of Tossing Them

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Something just doesn't feel right about tossing things made of metal but are no longer useful for their original purposes. This is why some people (we're not saying who...) end up with a dozen Altoids tins in their desk drawer. It also doesn't help when you've spend perhaps hundreds of hours working with the metal thing — say, a pot or sauté pan — to feed your family. What you need is a good way to reuse old pots and pans.

Most of these hacks are ways to take advantage of the shape of your disused pots and pans to do everything from holding potting soil to catching rain to reflecting light. And it's often helpful that cookware is at least temporarily impervious to the elements. From there, it's a matter of decorating the pan, combining it with other found or thrifted objects, and constructing your new cute thing... whatever it is. And when you're done admiring it, there are also smart ways to reuse lids from the old pots and pans you just repurposed.

If we're honest, even the best crafts can come out looking a bit on the, well, crafty side. But a bit of restraint goes a long way toward a more refined look, as evidenced by the painted and decoupaged cookpot in the image above and this old frying pan given new life as countertop storage. The pot is painted, then lace matching the paint is applied to the outer edge. The inside is decoupaged with a paper napkin matching the color and vibe of the piece. The feet are cheap wooden drawer pulls painted to match the exterior of the bowl.

Our second foray into decoupaging cookware comes via YouTuber Carolines Creative Corner and her beautifully rustic Sicilian villa. Her transformation of an old frying pan is also well-done. She does this by applying rice paper to the bottom of the pan. First, she wets it along the line she wants to separate, then tears it rather than cutting for a more blended finish. She also decoupages the inside of the pan, even though that side will be hanging against a wall. After stenciling, she applies a varnish to protect her work.

Is there any upcycling project more appropriate for an old frying pan than using it as a fire pit? But this isn't a project for the faint of heart. Vents have to be cut in the bottom of the pan with an angle grinder... not the safest thing you'll do today. Threaded rods serve as legs, and the pan's handle is bent downward and a bit of hardwood is drilled out to slip over the metal. The actual fire is probably the safest thing done with this project, but it's still cool enough to be a keeper.

If this fire pit DIY constitutes more danger than you're willing to subject your deck to, consider a step back into slightly safer territory by instead ruining some vintage baking pans in order to make a cute wall-hanging fire hazard for the whole home. "The glow of candles screams cozy home!" says the creator, Amanda Marie. At least, until someone screams "burning home!" Joking aside, this is the easiest project ever. Attach some off-the-shelf candle clips, screw the assembly to a fire-rated wall, and enjoy. It is actually a very pretty light.

This hack makes creating a normal vertical garden seem like making a horizontal garden at different heights. Hanging a frying pan on the wall and sticking a houseplant in it successfully isn't the kind of thing you can even start doing without some solid technique. The pan is layered with soil, then coconut fiber, then a plastic mesh that's tied at the back to keep it taut. A hole just large enough for inserting your plant is cut in the mesh, and the whole thing is watered with a hand-pump pressurized sprayer.

Remember that bundt cake you made for the holidays? For that special birthday? For, what, bundt cake day? No? This is exactly why the bundt cake planter is a great craft project; no one makes bundt cakes anymore. This is a simple one, too: Paint the pan, drill some drainage holes and some holes to hang it with if it's a hanging planter. Tie it up with some twine, and stick some pansies or a little herb garden in it. Note that the drainage holes might cause trouble anywhere floors become slippery when wet.

As it appears to be made of galvanized steel, this cookbook stand is probably not made with an actual sheet pan. But it would definitely work with a sheet pan. You'd need to improvise a sheet metal brake (there are probably dozens of YouTube tutorials) to bend the pan, then figure out how to attach the wire stand. The easiest way would be to drill holes and bend the wire through them so that it's sturdy, but you could also run bolts through the pan, bend the wire around them, then tighten it down.

This cute handmade pizza pan sign doesn't get much from your pizza pan than its shape and whatever waterproofness it has. But the end result can be beautiful, and who needs pizza anyway? Create a round sign with all of your elements in concentric rings around your central message. You might have an outer border of one color, a bit of cord glued just inside that, some stenciled or cut vinyl decorating inside of that, and letting that can also be stenciled or cut vinyl in the center.