14 Crafty Ways to Reuse Pie Pans

The holidays bring my favorite dessert – pie! What do you do when you find yourself with a stack of pie pans though? These 14 ideas are sure to inspire you to reuse pie pans in a myriad of ways. 

 

 

Did you know about 50 million pumpkin pies are eaten at Thanksgiving? (source)  That is a lot of pumpkin pie, and I highly doubt that even half of those are made at home in a reusable pie plate. Add to that fact, that some people out there just don’t like Pumpkin pie – raising my hand – so then we’ve got apple pie, cherry pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, and my personal favorite cheesecake!

 

I’ve talked recently about how we can reduce our waste by buying products in cartons, but what are we going to do with these pie pans?  Lucky for you, I’ve been brainstorming, and have a pretty awesome list to reuse pie pans. 

 

Garden Stones. Fill with cement, and add sparkly things like bead
s for a bright garden stone. These make great Grandparent gifts too. 

Bake more pies.  I think this is pretty obvious. Also a great way to make pies for neighbors or potlucks without worrying about getting your dish back. 

Kids Crafts. Things like a bird feeder, addition to a costume (think tin man), a mask, Frisbee, boat, the uses are endless here. 

Sensory Play.  Have you seen sensory play pins? Something like this Frozen Sensory bin could easily be recreated in a pie tin. 

Pet Bowls for on the go. Keep one or two in the car, for travelling with pets. Fill with water for a quick drink on the go

Make a Veggie Basket for the grill. (Source)

Store leftovers.  If you get the tins with the lids, save those lids and use the tin and lid to store leftovers, or to keep your husbands dinner warm if he has a late night (or wife if she’s the one working)

Husbands lunchbox. Again hang onto the lids, and send your spouse to work with a meal in a tin. 

Recreate Cafe Rio favorites at home. If you’ve never been to Cafe Rio, this might not make sense. You get a huge burrito, with beans and rice on the side, all served in what looks similar to a pie pan, but with higher sides. Save some money and recreate these favorites at home. I suggest trying this Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Recycle. If you’d rather not keep them around the house, then please recycle them. Give them to a crafty friend, or put in your recycling bin

Christmas Ornaments.  I found this fun idea over on Thrifty Fun.  It would be easy to recreate with kids.   

Key and wallet Holder.  This one is so simple. Just set the pan on your counter, and request everyone leave their wallet, keys, sunglasses, and other pocket junk in the tin. It will keep your counters looking cleaner, and no one will lose their keys. 

Screw holder in the garage. Attach multiple magnets to the back of the pie pan. Hang on your garage wall. Whenever you have a loose screw, or nail, or bolt, with no place to put it, toss it into the pan, and it will stick to the magnets. Great garage storage idea from Mark!

French toast.  This is a tip I actually shared a few years ago, and what inspired me to think further outside the box. I use pie tins (make sure they have no holes) and their lids to soak my french toast in before cooking it up. They can be washed and reused over and over and over again. 

How will you reuse pie pans this year?