Creative Ways to Recycle Old Cutlery

Recycling is a great way to have the most unique crafts at home. Did you can even make things from your old cutlery?

We all have old cutlery and other things we don’t use at home. However, did you know that you can take advantage of those old items and give them a new creative life? 

Do you have some old cutlery lying around and a little imagination?

If so, then you have what it takes to create unique objects to decorate your home. Here are some ideas for things you can make.

Repurpose Your Old Cutlery

The metal with which old cutlery was made is a fabulous material worth taking advantage of.

If you’ve been storing old forks, spoons and knives in a closet for many years, it’s time to bring them out in the open. Here are some ideas you may like to put ideas into practice.

This first idea is for a simple coat rack made with forks. All you need is a wooden board and a few forks you no longer use.

• To modify the forks to suit your design, you’ll need to heat them with a blowtorch (make sure to wear the proper protection!). Each one of them can be unique.
• Then, all you’ll have to do is attach them to the board and voila! You’ll have a beautiful rack to hang all kinds of stuff.

Wooden Spoon Dolls

Since you’re making stuff, why not involve the kids? How about using those old wooden spoons you never use to make dolls or puppets?

You could make the hair out of wool or some other material you may have at hand, as well as use old clothes you may have to dress them up.

Also, you can use any existing buttons and ribbons to complete them. You can also use paint and brushes for the eyes, nose, and mouth. Children will really love helping out with anything they can!

Napkin Cuffs

A forgotten fork in a drawer can become a beautiful napkin cuff, especially if it’s made of a precious metal like silver. If you want a professional piece, you might want to hire a jeweler to make it for you.

• To bend the metal into a shape you want you’ll have to (carefully) heat it with a blowtorch. You can bend the tines of the fork depending on what you want to do with them.

It’ll make a beautiful gift for that special someone!

Spoon Keychains

This attractive recycling idea will also require some silversmithing skils.

1. First, you’ll have to cut the handle of the spoons and flatten them.
2. Then, you’ll need a hole for the keyring, so you can put your keys in it.
3. In addition, you can add some texture with a punch or carve a name or personalize it in any other way you wish.

Cabinet Labels Made with Old Alpaca Cutlery

Alpaca is a silver-like material. However, it’s really an alloy made with zinc, nickel, and copper. A lot of old cutlery is made with this metal. The advantage it has is that it’s highly malleable, therefore ideal for metal crafts.

You can use alpaca spoons to make cabinet labels.

• Bend or flatten them with a hammer at room temperature. As you can see, this is not too difficult.
• Afterward, you can add the names of those things you intend to keep in there: “bread,” “cereals,” “sugar,” etc and then affix them to doors and drawers.

Garden Markers

This is similar to the cabinet labels. You can make these with alpaca spoons or knives. The metal is highly resistant to outdoor conditions.

Wouldn’t it be useful to be able to easily identify what’s in your garden?

Marine-Themed Mobile with Old Cutlery

A hanging mobile with marine figures made with cutlery certainly requires a little bit of work. However, the result will be incredible!

• You can use spoons to make fish by removing the handle and then shaping what’s left of them to make the tail. You can even drill an eye hole!
• Also, you can convert a fork into an abstract octopus or a squid with the help of a blowtorch.

Conclusion

How many of us have grandma’s silver cutlery stored in a drawer? We never use them and we never will!

Well, what could be better than to turn them into beautiful pieces of art to decorate our house?

You could even simply paint them white and then frame them. The result will be surprising and original.

As you can see, there are so many things you can do with that old cutlery you have at home. All it takes is some creativity and imagination!