Guitar String Crafts
If you play guitar frequently and happen to chew through strings as quickly as I do, you’ve probably found yourself wondering what to do with all of your used strings besides simply throwing them away—there’s got to be something to do with them, right? Right. Let’s run through a few alternative uses once they’ve run their course as melody makers.Lately, I’ve found myself experimenting with making a sort of hair-plug monstrosity that seems to be coming together nicely. It’s a bit pretty, a bit bewildering, and a lot like Angelica’s doll Cynthia on Rugrats (if you’re a cartoon aficionado and catch the reference). This is certainly a long-haul project, and is the accumulation of roughly two years worth of used acoustic and electric guitar and bass strings!
If you don’t have the care or patience to wait years to put together something spiffy with your leftover strings, consider the following:1) Use your leftover strings for arts and crafts, however your imagination permits! Be careful with the ends, which, if you frequently change your own strings, you probably know are very sharp! You can alter string length by clipping them down with wire cutters. You may then bend them, glue them, tie them, braid them, string beads on them, and so on. Be creative!2) Hang pictures with your leftover strings. Just exactly how you hang the pictures using guitar strings is up to you as there exists numerous ways to do so, also dependent upon what you are hanging. A lighter gauge string (slimmer in diameter) is more pliable—while still having a high tensile strength—and therefore a fine candidate; on your guitar, in standard tuning, this is the high E string.3) Cutting clay, like one would slice cheese with wire. (I would not recommend using filthy strings to slice your food unless you have sterilized the used string and are sure it is safe to cut edibles such as cheese or cakes.)4) Make bracelets, necklaces, or some kind of creative jewelry. Keep safety in mind when making jewelry so that you know you are wearing or gifting something safe!