Ten Ways to Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle Cassette Tapes

Today I am feeling a little nostalgic and have been remembering the days when I used to have a load of cassette tapes to play in the car, now I have CD’s and my Nexus 7 to play my music on. But people who only know CD’s and I-Pods will never know what it was like to have to rewind a cassette with a pencil, use that same pencil to pull the tape back in after the player has tried to eat it, and the mental art of pressing record at the exact time that favourites song is played on the radio. But what am I supposed to do with all these old cassettes I have found? Well, it seems there are loads of ideas out there, but I only want the 10 very best of them…

iPod Touch Case Made From Cassette Tapes

iPod Touch Case Made From Cassette Tapes

As someone who does indeed remember using cassette tapes this 60-minute tape Nano Cases are a joy to look at, but then again I would have been more impressed if it was a stand-alone player, but still great recycling of tapes none the less.

Deck Chair Made From Cassette Tapes

Deck Chair Made From Cassette Tapes

Chairs do not get any more retro than this one. Made with upcycled neon covered cassettes tapes it is a joy to look at. Sadly you will need to make your own if you want one of them, but it just might be worth a go.

Lamp Made From Cassette Tapes

Lamp Made From Cassette Tapes

If you fancy a little touch of the 80’s in your home then you could do far worse than this rather beautiful, eco-friendly lamp made from old cassette tapes. I think this looks great and might have to have a go at making one myself.

Purse Made From Cassette Tapes

Purse Made From Cassette Tapes

Nothing too complicated here, just a great recycling idea was done with a recycled cassette tape. I kind of like it because it would make a great talking point out of a normal everyday object.

Stationary Holder Made From Cassette Tapes

Stationary Holder Made From Cassette Tapes

Now here is one that even I can have a go at making! And while I am sure that no-one would need it, there is a great step-by-step making guide in the link.

CD Holder Made From Cassette Tapes

CD Holder Made From Cassette Tapes

This CD rack that is made from old cassette tapes is in fact quite easy to make, you see tapes have several holes in them that were originally used to keep it in place in the cassette player so all you need is a few screw bars, bits and screw nuts on the ends!

Jewellery Box Made From Cassette Tapes

Jewellery Box Made From Cassette Tapes

What better way to keep your Jewellery safe than a cool, retro-looking jewellery box this is made using upcycled cassette tapes! Not a bad thing to make with tapes at all.

Note Book Made From Cassette Tapes

Note Book Made From Cassette Tapes

What I like about this idea is that it uses the holes that secured the tape in the player with great effect. So if you are the type of person who still writes a shopping list down or like my needs to write your blog ideas down A.S.A.P because otherwise your forget them, this is the perfect gift for you.

Skull Made From Cassette Tapes

Skull Made From Cassette Tapes

While this is well above my own skill level it isn’t for the artist Brian Dettmer. You see, he makes amazing skeletons out of old cassette tapes! For some reason, the tapes colours and shapes are seen to make some of his works very lifelike indeed.

Breakfast bar Made From Cassette Tapes

Breakfast bar Made From Cassette Tapes

Recycling old tapes just don’t get any grander than this cupboard made from just under 1000 old cassettes! Done by Dutch designer Patrick Schuur it is nothing short of incredible and really doesn’t look that hard to make ourselves.

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