20 Creative Ways to Repurpose Kitchen Junk into Garden Decor

Turn kitchen junk into DIY garden art with these crafty ideas. Explore creative ways to repurpose common items for charming outdoor décor.

If you enjoy unique garden projects, also see these creative decor ideas.

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DIY Garden Decorations From Junk

Unless you’re a real minimalist, you probably have stuff lurking in your kitchen cabinets that you have not used in years.

If they don’t have some special sentimental (or other) value, why not turn some of it into garden decor? And yes, donating useful items is always a good option as well.

These ideas are all simple, probably pretty obvious, and do-able in an afternoon.

Instead of shopping, declutter for supplies!

1Bundt Pans

Bundt pans make excellent patio table planters. And muffin tins are fun for smaller succulents. Drill holes in the base for drainage.

2Spoons

Vintage silver-plated fish windchime by NevaStarr Etsy Shop.

Buy some or get a metal drill bit and make your own.

3Ceiling Fan

DIY Garden Art Dragonfly: The blades from an old ceiling fan make perfect wings. Many other parts of the fan can be used as well.

Want the real thing? See how to welcome dragonflies in your garden.

4Chandelier

This old light fixture doesn’t require any DIY. Just hang it up and add orange slices.

5Colander

Garden Art Chandelier: Use a mish-mash of old treasures for a shabby chic look. Colanders and other metal containers work great.

I’ve had this one in my garden for years.

6Cutlery

Make a See-Through Garden Birdbath or Totem: Pick a theme and fill the containers.

Here’s another version that I filled with seashells.

and this one is filled with burlap scraps. I love the texture!

7Dishes

Here’s my low-cost plate hanger tutorial. Makes it easy to hang them where you want them (indoors or outdoors).

Garden Art Dish Flowers: Use plates and other small dishes from the thrift store or your kitchen cabinets.

I like to use garden art to fill in the spaces while waiting for the flowers to grow.

This shows more blue and white themed garden art ideas.

8 Doors

Not that I’m suggestion to tear off your kitchen door, but, if you’re updating your kitchen, see if anything would work in the garden.

9Drawer Pulls

Kitchen Drawer Pull Hose Guards: protect your plants in style. I use these to keep the garden hose out of the flower beds.

10Knick Knack Shelf

Any little cabinet with doors can convert into a little fairy or hobbit house. This one was a spice jar shelf.

11Lazy Susan

A lazy susan makes a good garden mirror because they tend to have a frame for extra weather protection.

12Mason Jars

I keep a jar handy while cleaning up the garden: great way to display flowers.

13Pie Plate

A strong, shallow pie dish is perfect for creating a water feeder. I placed mine in an old grape vine wreath.

14Teacups and Saucers

This teacup is beautiful all on its own. But you could plant some pansies in it too. Or succulents.

15Trivets and Candle Holders

Hang up metal candle holders or trivets and you have instant wall art. For a unified look, spray paint them all the same color.

16Whisks and Mixer Blades

Can you see the mixer beaters and whisk? They make good leaves in a garden-junk kind of way.

17Wooden Bowls

I used old wooden salad bowls for this project.

18Wooden Spoons

Good idea if you have burned your wooden spoons. Use any acrylic craft paint and paint pens to turn them into plant markers or garden art.

There are lots more creative DIY plant tag and marker ideas here.

19Cake Pans

The top of this giant coneflower (Echinacea) garden art is a deep cake pan from the kitchen.

20Soda Pop Cans

The metal from soda pop cans can be used to create all sorts of art including plant markers, trinkets, and tramp art.

I hope you’ve found some repurposing ideas you want to try for your garden.

When it comes to garden junk, if you love it, it works.

Resources

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛