I’ve inherited a few boxes of cassette tapes, and now I’m brainstorming ways to upcycle them. To do these projects, I first needed to do some research. First, I checked to see if there was any value at all in these cassette tapes and found that some can actually be sold depending on the band and age of the tape. Some blank tapes can be sold for $2 to $4 according to Ever Present. However, I didn’t find anything terribly valuable in my possession, so I decided to proceed with the following projects. Next, after perusing some ideas, I wanted to know the best paint to use on cassette tapes. Turns out acrylic is my best bet and oil paints should be avoided. Spray paint is also a good option. After doing a little reading, I decided to get started on the projects!
Wallet
My favorite way to upcycle old cassette tapes is by turning them into nifty wallets. These can double as business card holders, cigarette holders, or any other small container used to hold your items. I saw lots of cute examples on Pinterest and tracked down a tutorial. Here are the steps to make these adorable wallets and my first attempt!
Lamp Centerpiece
When I saw this gorgeous centerpiece on Etsy, I knew I had to give this project a try. It looks super easy too. All you need are 8 cassette tapes and something for the base either additional tapes or a compact disc (I’ve got lots of those, too!). Glue them together with a hot glue gun and allow to dry. Place your battery operated lights inside and voila! An alternative which is also very cool, is to use an actual lamp base and make a lamp shade. I bought the parts for a lamp at a hardware store, but I haven’t tried this out yet. What’s great about this project is how cool it looks with different types of bulbs. You can upgrade any old lamp in this fashion and give it new life. I might try this project with cassette tape cases, too.
Wall Art
How cool is this piece of artwork with the film coming out to create a design? I want to do this one so badly! I got a canvas and used a projector at work to outline my subject. After that, I just carefully glued the film in the shaded areas. There’s got to be an easier way to glue the film down because the process was pretty messy, but for a first attempt, I feel like this one turned out pretty good. What do you think?
Storage Box
There are multiple examples of storage boxes and containers made out of old cassette tapes. These projects are super easy and only require gluing together the tapes to make the type of storage container you want. I want to do this one a little differently and use cassette tape cases instead.
Canvas
Finally, if you have a surplus of cassette tapes, you can connect them all together using a hot glue and make a cool canvas to paint on. I don’t have enough cassette tapes to make a large enough canvas, but if I get more, I’ll try this project. I try to only use cassette tapes that aren’t valuable or salvageable in some way. Most of the ones I used for this project were either broken or something that nobody would want. During my research, I stumbled upon the coolest company that repurposes old cassette tapes and film. They’re called Rehyphen and they make a ton of cool stuff out of old tapes. You can even donate your old cassette tapes to them if you don’t feel like trying any of the projects above. I absolutely love the upcycling community, and I can’t wait to try more projects!