Cake Pan Crafts

Cake pans used to come in varieties like rectangles and circles but nowadays they come in hundreds of different shapes and character images. These make for some very interesting craft projects that cost little more than the pan itself. And since there are so many varieties there’s a craft you can do for every person, every holiday and every occasion.

A unique look that kids will love is to purchase a cake pan in the shape of their favorite cartoon character and decorate it to hang on their bedroom doors. The shapes come in themes like super-heroes, pre-school children’s program characters, Disney characters and many others. Look for something specific to that character which will add to the craft. For example, Minnie Mouse is always depicted wearing a large polka-dot bow in her hair. Decorate the cake pan then glue a polka-dot bow on the top of the cake pan “head”.

A craft or department store may have a few varieties of the unique cake pans but you can find just about any image you want online. Search for something specific, like “Santa Claus cake pan” then you can look around the website of your chosen search result to see what other pans they offer. Or, search for something general, such as “shaped cake pans” to find stores that sell the pans.

For Christmas holidays hang a Santa cake pan on the front door. Paint the face a flesh color and give him rosy cheeks with dabs of red paint. Paint beard white, hat red and so forth. You can surround the cake pan with a cute candy cane wreath or just leave Santa hanging by himself. Instead of a door design you can place Santa on the porch, with back to house, and surround him with tree limb reindeer or homemade snowmen. Purchase a red velvet hat with white fur trim to put on his head and glue a small white scarf around his “neck”. Make sure his eyes twinkle by using glitter paint for them. Instead of Santa try a snowman or reindeer cake pan.

For Easter do something similar with a bunny cake pan. Glue on a large yellow, pink or blue bow at the bunny’s “neckline”. Make foil eggs and place them all over the door with the cake pan bunny in the center. He can sit on the porch instead surrounded by small plastic Easter eggs. Add a pretty Easter bonnet on his head for depth and character.

On valentine’s day you can simply paint a heart cake pan red and hang it on the door or make it more fanciful by attaching craft candies or cherubs on the pan. For Thanksgiving there are turkey cake pans and for Independence day there are flag-shaped pans.

Some cake pans are symmetric and can be easily placed concave side to concave side. Others are not. Ones that are can be easily made into beautiful table centerpieces. Place two pans that are symmetric, such as a Christmas tree, concave side against concave side and use contact cement to hold them together. Paint them green and allow to dry. Use glitter paints to paint on ornaments and lights. Glue the tree shapes onto an upside-down dinner plate. You can paint the plate or cover it with fabric. Purchase tiny, foil-wrapped package ornaments to place around the tree or make your own by “wrapping” small pieces of wood or styrofoam with colored foil.

There are many other ways to use the cake pans. Make a display on your fireplace mantel or on the hearth. Use a shaped cake pan to hold your children’s markers and crayons. Use a cake pan tree shape surrounded by a Christmas village for a unique holiday look for a bookcase or shelf. You’ll think of even more ideas once you’ve done just one of these crafts.