15 Amazing Ways To Repurpose Unused Pie Tins Around Your Home And Garden

We all have that favorite pie tin, the one we're sure is the secret ingredient to perfect pies. We also all have that collection of rejected pie tins. Disposable pie pans aren't much better, often coming in packs when you only need one. What do you do with the rest? In the garden, a pie tin makes a useful bird feeder and, conversely, a bird deterrent, a steppingstones mold, and a sprinkler system efficiency tester. Indoors, there are even more uses for this versatile up-cycle item: from a frame for family photos, a mirror, or a night light to a receptacle for growing micro greens and a tool for printmaking.

Why you should keep aluminum pans to reuse them for your plants and garden might not be so obvious at first, especially if you have baking on the brain. Whether made from flexible aluminum or steel, they're durable and water resistant. They're made from thin metal sheets, making them easy to drill into; meanwhile, craft, hot, and super glue sticks to them readily. If you don't already have either type of tin but still want to do one of the crafts in this lineup, ask family and friends, put in a request on your local Buy Nothing group, or buy some from a thrift store or online.  For example, you can get ten KitchenDance 9 Inch Pie Tins made from recyclable aluminum for under $16, or two Cooking Concepts 9 Inch Steel Pie Pans for just under $10.

Ready to reuse pie pans for this easy but beautiful garden project? One tin makes one stone. Spray the insides with cooking oil, prepare the pre-mix concrete or mortar mix, then pour it into the tin. While the concrete is damp, press in vibrantly colored glass shards, broken ceramics à la mosaic art, shells, or imprint-able textured objects, like pieces from a cheap plastic garden fence — we like Gardenised Decorative Butterfly Design Plastic Fence for about $20. Or simply paint the stones with outdoor paint.

Reuse an aluminum pan to DIY a simple bird feeder for your yard. Punch four holes in the rim of the pie tin, tie a piece of string to each, then connect all four strands together at the top. Make it fancier by screwing in an upturned plastic bottle or vent cap for a seed tube or making a roof from an upside-down bowl. Hang your completed feeder from a tree branch and pour in some bird seed.

Smaller-sized metal pie tins are the perfect size for photo frames. Paint the tin using an acrylic craft paint — HissiCo Acrylic Paint Set of 36 Colors will give you lots of choice — and cut photos to fit the flat inside of the tin. Glue them in place. Another nostalgic, kitchen-focused option is to use old family recipes or just your favorites written down in place of photos. Of course, don't discount the decorative power of the classic Mod Podge and paper napkin decoupage technique!

Some store-bought pies, like those at Safeway, come packaged in an aluminum tin inside a plastic shell and lid that makes the perfect microgreens greenhouse. Fill the internal tin with a growing medium like KFAREJGOAE Long Coconut Husk Fiber Mulch Silk for about $15, sprinkle the seeds, cover them with a damp paper towel, and close the lid. Check daily for sprouts, removing the paper towel when they appear. Pie tins also make affordable seed starter trays. Add drainage holes and seed starter mix, plant your seeds, and water often.

Here's an easy and affordable Dollar Tree DIY that will add a rustic touch to your home (in fact, you can get the tins at any big box retailer or thrift store). To make a tiered pedestal tray, you'll need a few pie tins in graduating sizes and one or two baroque-style vases, candleholders, or sturdy wine glasses. A turned wood furniture spindle would work, too. Glue or screw the stem to the first, largest tray; repeat the process one or two more times. Paint the entire piece.

Daisy couch cushions and cutesy floral wallpapers are trending indoors, and you can take that aesthetic outside, too. To make outdoor flower wall art, spray six pie tins white and one pan gold or yellow with outdoor paint. Place the white tins in a circle, each rim touching the next. Pipe some silicon onto the rim of the gold or yellow pan and place it in the center of the circle atop the edges of the pie tins. Hang it on the wall once the silicon has cured.

Find a mirror the exact diameter of your pie tin — or vice versa. Glue the mirror to the flat inside of the pie tin, ideally using either epoxy of glass glue. Once it's cured, decorate the border with items of your choice — think ribbon, beaded string, or baroque style framing. Glue a hook to the back to hang it, or cut some twine and use it to create a loop at the back of the pie tin.

Here's another Dollar Tree storage DIY that will make the most of your kitchen space! Fill a pie tin with marbles and nestle a matching pan inside that so it's sitting atop them. The top tin should spin freely. You can use this low-cost lazy Susan for storing condiments, utensils, or other kitchen essentials. Or you could up the ante by gluing a large baking tray to the top pie tin, adding a cage crafted from two bent cooling racks, and hanging items as needed.

To make a replica moon night light, glue a thick ring of cardboard around the rim of an aluminum pie tin and spray paint the entire thing black. Pour some gray Dap 31084 Concrete Patch Interior and Exterior compound inside the tin and press in some craters in different sizes. Once it's dry, about two to four hours later, add a string of teeny LED lights under the cardboard circle. Turn them on and voilà! Your shining moon is ready to hang on the wall.

With some needle-nose pliers, sharp scissors, and a few pie tins, you can create almost any sculptural form. For example, to make a bonsai tree tabletop ornament, cut the edges from three pie tins and twist them together using pliers to form roots, branches, and trunk. Add smaller branches using the same technique and small bits of foil, then attach them to your large branches. Adorn your tree with artificial flowers or foliage, seasonal ornaments, or keepsakes and pop it on your sideboard or dining table.

Plagued by birds eating your berries and beans? Create a pie tin scarecrow. They won't touch your precious garden with the help of this baking essential. It can be as simple as hanging two pie tins together from a shepherd's crook or wooden pole. The key is to use two or more pans, so they clank together; the noise and the sunlight reflecting from the tins scares away the feathered robbers. Bonus: the same method reportedly repels hungry deer if you hang the tins off wire fences surrounding your garden.

Print out a seasonally themed printable and glue it inside a teeny pie tin. Glue on a beaded loop of string for hanging the ornament and cover the ends with appropriately themed artificial flowers. Alternatively, channel your inner Victorian and make a tin punch ornament by placing a mini foil pie tin on a corkboard and punching out a snowflake design with push pins. Finally, if you're feeling ambitious, try your hand at making origami ornaments using thin metal sheets cut from aluminum pie tins.

Lawn experts recommend auditing your irrigation system to ensure it's getting water to the right places efficiently and evenly. You can buy auditing kits, or you can make a catch cup from a pie tin. You'll need about 24 pans for an accurate reading. Set up the tins in a grid pattern across your lawn or garden beds. You may need to place stones inside to get the tins as level as possible. After you irrigate the lawn, measure the water level with a ruler in each tin to determine how much water each part of your yard receives.

The answer to your kitchen light conundrum may be collecting dust in a thrift store. Yup, you can convert vintage pie tins, replete with authentic patina and romantic fluted edges, into a hanging light for your kitchen island or dinette. Assorted diameters and depths work best stacked together. Once you've settled on a design, drill through the center of each pan and thread a light bulb and cord through. If you're not savvy with electricity, get a contractor in to help you install your new light in the ceiling.

Making monoprints with a non-stick pie tin gives you a built-in circular border. Slather the back of the pan with paint and draw patterns in it using a Q-tip or your finger. Press a sheet of plain paper onto the paint, smooth it out, and lift it to reveal your print. This activity is often promoted for kids, but adults can try it, too. Focus on bold patterns, textures, and shapes. For less mess, use washable tempera paint — we love the Fantastory Tempera Paint for Kids for under $40 with its glittery gold.