Simply Green: Old Cake Pans

What do you do with old cake pans or pans that you no longer use because they are scratched, stain, or even has rust spots? Do you throw them away? Have you every thought of ways to reuse them? Did you know there are ways you can reuse them? 

Today's post is all about ways to reuse these pans. I have several pans that I received as wedding gifts and over the years they had become worn, stained, and rusted. I started to throw them out, but then I stopped myself. My mind immediately started thinking of ways to reuse them. 

Here are some of the things I came up with:

• Use them to water the little 6 annual flower packs you buy in the spring. The packs fit into a rectangular pan really well. Just pour a little water in the bottom to help keep the flowers moist until you can get them set out. 
• Use them to lay bulbs or tubers in to dry for winter storage. Last year I pulled up my sweet potato tubers and stored them in a large rectangular pan. I sat the pan on top of the frig in the laundry room over the winter. The tubers dried well in the pan and they were contained. 
• Use them to set other flowers in with water until you are ready to set the flowers back out in another spot. I have done this with day lilies. It works well. 
• Use them in to store items or collections in. In my garden shed, I am using several rectangular pans as containers for my vases. This helps me keep them together and organized. 
• Use the round cake pans underneath flower pots to catch any water that may come out. 
• Use them in the garden to put the veggies you are harvesting in.

While I have reused my for practical purposes, you can get very crafty with them. I have seen some of the round pans glued to a pedestal and used in kitchens to hold fruit or in bedrooms for a catch all for jewelry and other items. I have seen rectangular pans or bundt pans used for a cactus gardens. I have seen the round pans painted, a mirror inserted in them, and hung on a wall as mirrors. The possibilities are endless. 

 

So before you get ready to throw those old cake pans out, put your thinking cap on and get those creative juices flowing. You may just come up with some pretty and useful for your home or some nice to give as a Christmas gift. Or you may find that you have a use for them just in your every day life. 

 

Learning how to reuse things instead of throwing them out is simply a green thing!