High Craftibility: crafting with old vinyl records, cassette and VHS tapes

December 21, 2008 5:17 PM

Audio visual technology changes so fast that if you’re of a certain age you’ve been left holding the bag of cassettes, VHS tapes and vinyl records. What will you do with these AV artifacts if you no longer want to play them? Have no fear; you can have lots of crafty fun with your real audio. You can make a cassette tape mini journal, a cassette wallet or cassette coin purse, or a mini cassette lamp. If you’re into melting stuff, you can make a sculpture, such as this skeleton, from the plastic. The tape can be crocheted or knitted into items like totes, evening bags, Barbie halter dresses, or baby booties.

If you’ve got old VHS tapes kicking around, the boxes can be turned into storage cases, or a chair. You can crochet with VHS tape as well, and make some purses.

We had a vinyl record craft post a few weeks ago, but here are some additional vinyl record crafting ideas. You can make clocks from them, regular or Dali-style. Vinyl records can be used to make books or journals, tote bags or purses, or earrings. They can also be used to make silhouette cutouts, serve as a canvas for paintings, or made into wall art. And what a relief, huh? You thought you’d have to smuggle those New Kids on the Block or K-Tel compilation albums to the nearest thrift store in the dead of the night.

posted by orange swan (11 comments total)

Appropriating the past has gotten so played. I still think the next thing will be appropriating the future. Kind of like this if it wasn't referencing a movie. Or at least I hope that's what starts happening.
posted by cashman at 5:25 PM on December 21, 2008

Hope this thread fares better than piratebowling's about vinyl...
posted by hermitosis at 5:37 PM on December 21, 2008

I'd been wondering what I was going to do with my complete collection of Air Supply cassettes (you know, besides listening to them).
posted by cjorgensen at 5:54 PM on December 21, 2008

But what the hell am I going to do with these 14 minidiscs? Their time was too breif to make them an icon of anything, and there are too few of them around to use as raw material. Yet, I just can toss them out: They look like something out of Bladerunner.
posted by scope the lobe at 5:57 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

You can take my (insert relic of the past here) from my cold dead hands,
posted by wheelieman at 6:29 PM on December 21, 2008

I still think the next thing will be appropriating the future.

You should start your local chapter of the Historical Pre-Enactment Society.
posted by regicide is good for you at 8:21 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

That tape skeleton looked familiar... something in her eyes... Then I realized it was one of the first tapes I ever bought with my own hard earned allowance money, Talking Heads: Speaking In Tongues. The font, the color of the plastic, and that XTR logo are distinctive.
posted by idiopath at 8:29 PM on December 21, 2008

Actually, I'd been planning on converting them to digital files, them semi-retiring them as trophies.

One doesn't just treat the Plasmatics' "New Hope for the Wretched" as a pencil cup, after all, and the records and mix tapes I've got feature a lot of bands who've never made it to electronic media.

/just sayin'
posted by Graygorey at 11:08 PM on December 21, 2008

You can add CDs to that list, too. Nowadays I just find it frustrating to deal with the damned things. Same with DVDs, for that matter. And I only need so many coasters!
posted by Drexen at 4:59 AM on December 22, 2008

For ideas on things to do with old CDs, Drexen, you can check out this old FPP of mine on the topic. This Christmas recycling crafts post also has a few CD craft ideas in it.
posted by orange swan at 6:36 AM on December 22, 2008

*cries for vinyl*
posted by Bageena at 11:06 AM on December 22, 2008