15 Brilliant Uses For Old Coffee Mugs

Is your mug cabinet filled to the brim? Whether you bring home a souvenir mug from every trip, are the "World's Best Boss" or an "A+ Teacher" ten times over, or are just ready to refresh your collection with new pieces, you may be wondering what to do with all of those old coffee mugs. You don't want them to end up in the landfill. And, while you could always donate them, some have sentimental value. While you no longer want to sip your morning cup of tea or coffee from them, you also aren't quite ready to fully part with them.

Fortunately, there are brilliant ways you can give your old coffee mugs a new life. From functional storage solutions to helping you project the music from your smartphone, those used mugs hold a lot of promise. There are ways you can put broken or chipped mugs to good use, too. Keep reading to find inspiration to help you find the best way to use your old mugs.

Those old mugs may no longer spark joy when you're sipping on a cup of tea or coffee, but they could bring newfound pleasure when you convert them to a baking dish for delicious desserts. As long as it isn't chipped or broken, the coffee mug can serve as a vessel for baking a scrumptious mug cake. Most mug cakes are quick and easy to make and only call for a few ingredients. They make it possible to indulge and satisfy a craving, without having an entire cake that you'll be tempted to eat before it gets stale.

Plus, when you make these single-serving treats, you and others in the house don't have to agree on what type of sweet you feel like. One of you could enjoy an Oreo mug cake, while the other could delight in a lemon mug cake. After combining all the ingredients, most mug cakes only take a few minutes to cook in the microwave, so you don't have to heat up the house by turning on the oven.

If you have too many mugs to store in your cabinets but aren't ready to part with them for sentimental reasons, then you might want to consider giving them new life as a candle. This way, you can still admire the beautiful designs and remember special trips when you display your new candles on an end table, a bookshelf, or the kitchen counter.

Turning a mug into a candle is easier than you might think. You'll need to start by placing a wick in each cup and holding it in place with a pencil or some popsicle sticks. Then, you can melt wax flakes on the stovetop and carefully pour the hot wax into the mug. If you want to make scented candles, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the wax before you pour it. 

Be sure to give the candles a full 24 hours to ensure the wax fully hardens before you move or light them. These candles will also make a great gift for friends or loved ones — helping you clear out all of those extra mugs without letting them go to waste.

You may have heard the saying that "broken crayons still color." Well, broken mugs can still be beautiful, too. That is when you use the colorful pieces to create unique mosaic works of art. Making a mosaic allows you to channel your creative side. To begin, you'll want to take that already chipped mug and carefully break it into several smaller pieces. Use tile nippers, such as the Goldblatt Glass Tile Nippers, to do this safely, and make sure to protect your eyes and hands against the sharp ceramic pieces.

You will also need to choose a base for your mosaic. The best material will depend on where you plan to keep it (indoors or outdoors) and the size of the artwork. Some potential materials include glass bowls or picture frames for indoor pieces or planters, metal tables, or concrete backer board for outdoor pieces. Once you select your base, you can arrange the broken pieces to create a design, such as a flower, a rainbow, or a favorite animal. Then, you'll just need to apply layers of thin-set and grout to the back of the tiles to keep them in place before proudly displaying your work of art.

If you've always imagined growing herbs for a cozy indoor tea garden, those old coffee mugs can help you turn these dreams into reality. With a few slight modifications, the mugs can make an ideal planter for growing basil, lemon balm, sage, and more. The most important thing that you'll need to modify is the solid base. If water isn't able to drain properly from the soil, the roots will stay too wet and will rot. So you'll need to add a drainage hole.

To add this drainage hole, place a piece of masking tape over the spot where you want it to go (this will keep the bit from sliding or leaving scratch marks as you drill). Then, use an electric drill, such as the DeWalt 20V Max Cordless Drill/Driver Kit, with a carbide bit to carefully drill a hole through the base. If the bit starts to overheat, pause to dip it in cool water. That's it — now your mug is ready for some soil and the herbs or succulents that you want to grow inside.

If keeping your desk organized is a constant struggle, those used mugs could be the solution you've been searching for. Office supplies like paper clips, pens, rubber bands, and many others are very small. This means that they can quickly clutter up drawers or storage bins, making it impossible to find what you're looking for (while also making your home office look sloppy and disorganized).

With a few mugs, you can give each of these supplies a designated spot to prevent them from getting mixed together. For an even more organized space, consider using a label maker, such as the DYMO Marker, to identify what is inside each mug. Using your coffee mugs to organize your office is another way to make sure you're able to reminisce with favorite pieces that are tied to special memories.

The bathroom countertop is another surface that gets cluttered. While it would be nice to move more items to the cabinet beneath the sink, doing so isn't always practical. When you're using those cotton balls, make-up remover pads, or cotton swabs daily, do you really want to have to search under the sink every single time you need one?

Enter the beauty — and functionality — your used coffee mugs can bring to the space. Each one can hold a different toiletry, keeping them organized, off of the counter, and easy to find. The mugs can also boost your bathroom's aesthetic appeal. They add a touch of color and style, and you can keep those sentimental pieces somewhere that you'll be able to admire.

An old coffee mug is all you need to amplify music from your smartphone. Yes, you read that correctly. Music is key when you're hosting a dinner party and want to set the right vibe. But if you don't have a fancy Bluetooth speaker system, you don't have to worry.

Simply start your favorite playlist and place your smartphone in the mug, speaker side down. Because of the curved design of the mug, its sides will direct the sound waves up and out, amplifying the music for all to hear. Of course, you should have realistic expectations for this hack. It's not going to fill your backyard with sound for your outdoor barbecue, but it could make the music louder and clearer for a large gathering in your dining room.

If you want to attract more birds to your backyard, why not consider making a special bird feeder using an old mug? The size and shape of a coffee mug make it a good fit for making a suet feeder, in particular. If you haven't heard of suet before, it is an animal fat that many birds — especially chickadees, starlings, jays, and woodpeckers — love. 

By definition, the fat is sourced from beef or mutton kidney and loins, but you'll also find suet that is made using other types of beef fat. The birds can easily digest the fat, and it is a high-energy food, which can be particularly beneficial during the cold winter months.

Making the suet bird feeder will be relatively simple. Start by melting down (aka rendering) some suet. Add birdseed and a long stick to each mug (the stick will serve as a perch). Pour the melted suet over the seeds and let it cool in the fridge. Be sure to stir it a few times as it cools to prevent the seeds from sinking to the bottom. Then, just hang the suet feeder outside and wait for the birds to flock to your yard.

If you're in the mood for a little project and love unique decor pieces, then this idea is for you. Why not make a few of your favorite old coffee mugs into pendant lights to hang above a workspace in your kitchen, office, or craft room? While this may sound like an intimidating electrical project, it isn't as involved as you may think.

You'll need to cut a hole in the base of the mug using a diamond drill bit before attaching a light kit, such as a vintage-style pendant light kit. Once attached to the kit, you can swap it for an existing overhead light fixture or hire an electrician to properly wire your new pendant light.

If you have an old mug that you want to keep out of the landfill, you could use it as a decorative centerpiece. Trim the stem on flowers, such as carnations, roses, or daisies, so that they're short enough to fit properly in the mug. Don't forget to add extra texture and color with trimmed baby's breath or eucalyptus leaves.

If you're worried about your arrangement dying or dropping petals on your table, you could consider making it with artificial flowers and floral foam. You could even use more than one mug to make multiple arrangements to save for each season or holiday. For example, try using tulips (such as the Winlyn Multicolor Artificial Tulips) for your spring arrangements and chrysanthemums (like the Floroom Silk Pompom Artificial Mini Chrysanthemums) for your fall arrangements.

If you have mugs that are still in good shape but simply aren't your favorite anymore, someone else may appreciate the style and design. Why not consider turning them into a little gift for a friend, family member, or your child's teacher? You could gift the mug by itself, but you could also add extras to it to make it a more complete gift.

Consider adding a few of the best Trader Joe's tea bags or your favorite hot cocoa mixes to each mug. Don't forget other embellishments, such as a small pack of mini marshmallows for a hot chocolate gift or a few honey sticks for a tea gift. Cover the whole thing with cellophane wrap and a cute bow, and it will be ready to gift.

When you get home with a pocket full of change, do you empty it out onto the kitchen counter, your desk, or your nightstand, where it gets lost in the shuffle? Instead of dealing with stray coins all around the house, use an old mug to help you keep them all together.

Decide on the most convenient spot to keep it — perhaps by your purse, on the entryway table, or on the nightstand — and make a habit of getting all the coins in there instead of other random spots. You could even make it a fun challenge to fill the mug, roll the coins, and put them into a special account to save for something you wouldn't otherwise buy yourself.

Is your crafting room in need of TLC? Do you have random supplies all mixed together in a drawer? If so, then bring your mugs into the space and let them help you corral the chaos once and for all. Coffee mugs are the perfect size to hold many crafting supplies, such as pom-poms, buttons, beads, and wood craft sticks. 

Designate one mug for each type of supply, sort everything out, and add labels so you'll be able to easily find the item you're looking for. Then, you can organize the cups on a shelf in your craft room, freeing up desk space and keeping the drawers clutter-free. You might also want to add a few of your old coffee mugs to your desktop. They can also be used to hold your smaller crafting tools, such as scissors, hole punches, sculpting tools, and pens.

You're not alone if your glasses, rings, and other small jewelry or personal items always slide around on your nightstand. Have you considered using a coffee mug as a stand-in for a valet tray? Instead of placing these small and valuable items on the nightstand, where they could fall onto the floor, place them in the mug to keep them safe until the following morning.

You could also leave the mug in the bathroom or on a different dresser in your room, depending on where you prefer to leave these items overnight. A second mug could come in handy if you also wear glasses and want to rest them somewhere so that they also don't inadvertently get pushed to the ground.

If you are looking for a way to reuse a treasured mug so that you'll be able to enjoy the memories associated with it for years to come, consider turning it into a pin cushion for all of your sewing projects. You'll want to start by purchasing some felt to serve as the cover for the cushion. As you're deciding which felt to buy, consider the colors present in the design of the mug. Choose a felt color that will coordinate with this color palette.

Once you've selected your felt color, you will want to trace two circles on it, using the rim of the coffee mug as a stencil. Then, simply sew those two circles together, leaving a small opening that you can use to stuff it with fiberfill. If desired, you can use additional felt pieces to create small embellishments to add to the cushion. Once finished, hot glue it into the coffee mug, and get started on your next sewing project.