Do you have muffin tins you need to declutter? Looking for ways to repurpose old muffin tins instead of throwing them away? As I struggle to declutter my kitchen, I find myself hesitating to get rid of a few things. One of the items I can’t bring myself to toss out is my grandmother’s set of old muffin tins.
They are dark with age but have sentimental value and I just can’t send them off to Goodwill. Of course, I have a set of rather nice muffin tins that I acquired at some point in my marriage.
So, the bottom line is…I have WAY too many muffin tins in my house. Especially since I don’t bake all that many muffins! So, I find myself wondering what I can do with all the old muffin tins I have in my kitchen cabinets.
If I can’t handle giving Grandma’s old muffin tins to Goodwill, maybe I can find some new ways to use them. I came across a few creative ideas in my search for old muffin tin uses and I thought I would share them with you.
Table of Contents
Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Old Muffin Tins
1. Freeze Citrus Ice Cubes
Fill muffin tin cups with water and top with a slice of lemon, lime, or orange. Freeze overnight. Remove from the muffin tins and now you have pretty and flavorful ice cubes for a party.
2. Use it to serve oysters
Fill the muffin tin cups with ice and top with an oyster on the half shell. Makes a wonderful way to serve oysters at your next party.
3. Turn it into a drawer organizer
Paint or leave your muffin tin as is and place in a drawer. It is a great way to sort out push pins, paper clips, elastic bands and safety pins!
4. Condiment Bar at your next BBQ
Fill the cups of your old muffin tins with condiments for your next backyard party. Ketchup, mustard, mayo, ranch dressing… there are plenty of spots for them all!
5. Sort your nuts and bolts
Ever have to assemble a piece of furniture that came with 800 assorted nuts and bolts? Use the muffin tin to sort them out so they don’t roll away or get eaten by the dog!
6. Kids arts and crafts:
If your child enjoys arts and crafts, old muffin tins come in very handy! Let them put in beads, googly eyes, gems, and an assortment of dried beans.
Hand them some construction paper and a bottle of glue and watch what kind of amazing creations they make!
7. Children’s sorting game:
On the inside bottom of muffin tin papers, write a color name or draw a circle of a certain color. Put the muffin tin papers into your old muffin tins so that the name/color is pointing up and visible.
Now, hand your child a bag of beads and have them sort the beads by color. Pink beads in the pink muffin tin cup and blue beads in the blue cup. This is a great way to teach colors to small children!
8. Make homemade bath bombs:
Combining a few simple ingredients and pressing them into old muffin tins will result in some heavenly-smelling bath bombs. Check out my directions for Lavender Oatmeal Bath Bombs and you will soothe dry skin and get a better night’s sleep.
9. Create a steamy oven for better bread and pizza crusts:
Add a bit of water to each cup of your old muffin tin and place it in the oven when preheating. Baking homemade bread in a steamy oven will give you a nice, crispy crust.
10. Use it as a planter for herbs or small plants:
Old muffin tins can be used to plant succulents or toe ticklers for a unique look to your patio, sunroom, or living room!
11: As a garden helper:
Gently press old muffin tins into lightly turned soil. The resulting indentations are perfect for planting seeds or seedlings. This will work for plants that don’t need to be spaced far apart. Radishes, carrots, and leafy greens are good choices for this method.
12. Make a bird feeder:
Old muffin tins can be turned into a muffin tin bird feeder by just drilling a few holes and adding some yarn.
You can get fancy by using metal chains and adding a lid if you are really ambitious. Check out the muffin tin bird feeder on Pinterest for directions.
13. Muffin Tin Crayons:
Use old muffin tins to melt broken crayons. The resulting ‘block’ of mixed colors is fun for kids to draw with. Just make sure you take the wrappers off the crayons first! Muffin Tin Crayons can also be used as a cute child’s birthday treat bag gift.
14. Muffin Tin Paint Tray:
Fill the cups of old muffin tins with paint or colored shaving cream and hand your child a brush and paper.
15. Muffin Tin Advent Calendar:
Make an Advent Calendar from a mini-muffin pan and magnetic circles– put tiny surprises in each cup and place the magnetic circle over the top. Each day, remove one circle to reveal the hidden treat!
16. Muffin Tin Wall Art:
Old muffin tins can be painted, decoupaged, or decorated with old photos and hung on the wall as a unique piece of muffin tin artwork!
Do you have other suggestions on how to reuse old muffin tins? If you have muffin tins that you love to use, check out the Muffin Tin Chef for more creative muffin tin recipes.
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
Some fantastic ideas here. I especially love the drawer organizer idea. I have seen Advent calendar ones before. So clever. Pinning.
Im thinking of painting one and giving it to my daughter for her earings, pins, and assorted ‘little things’
I’ve done the muffin tin crayons – and it’s perfect for holding paint colors!
I love all the garden idea especially the bird feeder.
Those are great ideas! I will have to make some of those bath bombs!