Before you throw away those obsolete, dust-laden floppy disks, take a look at these six creative ways you can revitalize those aged pieces of history.

Of course, there are tons of other creative uses for floppy disks, from lunch boxes to earrings. A quick search on Pinterest or Google for 'recycled floppy disk' will throw up more results than you can shake a stick at. But the six examples shown here provide a range of awesome projects from quick and easy, to challenging but worth it!

Let's look at how to bring some life back to those storage antiquities.

1. Floppy Disk Music

Here is something completely different and seriously impressive. Using old floppy disks with the floppy disk reader too, you can build a sort of musical instrument.

While the designer never did get around to uploading a build guide for this awesome creation, it serves to demonstrate the epic extent of what you can do with old tech. If you have some experience in electronics, you might well be able to reverse-engineer it.

From what we can see, it makes use of 12 floppy disk readers, along with an Arduino Uno. These components are wired together and powered by a small guitar amp. On the software end, the program is likely Moppy2, which outputs MIDI information to the floppy disk instrument. You can find Moppy2 over on GitHub.

Difficulty rating: 4/5

2. Floppy Disk Planters

With little more than a glue gun and five old floppy disks, you can make these planters to house all those beloved plants, flowers, and herbs currently sitting in boring old plant pots and plastic containers around your house (these can of course double up to store whatever else you like!).

Follow this step-by-step tutorial by Brit+Co to make your own, otherwise, I'm sure you can figure it out! Simply superglue (or glue-gun) five floppy disks together with one acting as the base. Place a plant pot (with your plant within it!) inside.

Depending on the size, you may need to trim the plant pot with scissors so it doesn't peek out over the top of your new planter. And voilà! Your repurposed planter is ready to go!

Difficulty rating: 1/5

3. Floppy Disk Notepad

A close up shot of a notepad made with two floppy disks
Image Credit: Jan Kaláb/Flickr

By creating your own floppy disk notepad, you'll never find yourself without a trusty place to jot down those thoughts, ideas, and never-ending to-do lists. Perfectly pocket-sized, and dutifully durable, you may just prefer this to your trusty Moleskine!

There are two main ways to rustle up your own floppy disk notebook. The first method is to create a spiral notebook that uses DIY spiral bindings. To learn how to make the bindings yourself, you can refer to this YouTube video.

To make the holes, you can either use a trusty drill (advisable for getting through the plastic), screw punch, or a standard hole punch. Ideally, you're looking to make 3mm holes or thereabouts, which are spaced roughly 2mm apart.

Once the holes are made, simply twist the coil through the holes from one end to the other. This can be a bit tricky, but that's part of the fun, right?

Difficulty rating: 2/5

Three pictures of a DIY floppy disk from three different angles

The second method, as detailed in this Instructable tutorial, is even simpler. You can thread cotton string through the existing holes in the floppy disk and secure it with a few clever knots to hold everything together.

This would be a great project if you have young children. While you're at it, you could even explain to them where the universal symbol for saving documents originally came from.

Difficulty rating: 1/5

4. Floppy Disk Shoulder Bag

If you've got around 40-50 old floppy disks lying around, this one-minute YouTube tutorial will show you how to put them to good use by converting them into a sturdy shoulder bag to make any geek proud. You could even become a pro fashion designer by selling your bags on Etsy!

Although this will likely take quite a bit of time to complete, it's not particularly difficult. It mainly involves drilling plenty of holes where you can join the floppy disks together with metal wire. We can't guarantee your street cred will skyrocket after this, but it's a neat project nonetheless!

Difficulty rating: 3/5

5. Floppy Disk USB Drive

If you have a slim USB drive that you don't mind pulling apart, you can carefully superglue this into an old floppy disk case so you can keep using both for what they were originally intended for—storage!

Essentially, this involves removing the USB electronic component from inside the USB case and transplanting it into your floppy disk. Do this carefully though, as it's easier than you think to snap the fragile floppy disk plastic. we'd advise following the video closely here as it's a lot easier than following text instructions.

Difficulty rating: 3/5

6. Art

And finally, this video should get those creative juices flowing to inspire you to create some truly great art from an obsolete object. You'll see how British artist Nick Gentry is using the plastic casings as a canvas for his incredible creations.

Of course, it's your prerogative as an artist to take whatever approach you like when repurposing your old floppy disks.

If you're looking for more ways to repurpose your old tech, here are some creative uses for your old cell phone, and some budget-friendly projects to reuse your old PC.

Difficulty rating: As difficult as you like!

DIY Uses for Floppy Disks

Floppy disks were made with durable plastic, making them a material that has strength and longevity. It's perfect for refashioning into a planter, bag, notepad, or into some art.

On the other hand, if you want to dig into electronics, it's definitely possible to rewire old floppy disks and floppy disk readers to create an incredible-looking MIDI music player.

With these projects to get you thinking, you can avoid adding more electronic waste to the landfill while creating something useful, decorative, or just plain cool!