While it’s tempting to throw out that box of frayed USB cables, outdated chargers, and other wiring sitting in your garage, repurposing is smarter. Not only will you end up with something useful, but also you’ll also have helped Mother Nature by not adding to the tons of electrical waste dumped every day.
Have no idea what to repurpose your old cables into? Check out these seven cool DIY ideas using old cables and wires.
1. DIY Electrical Wire Bracelet
Repurposing your old electrical cables into a bracelet means endless style possibilities as you can always combine any colors you want. You’ll also end up with an incredibly unique bracelet at no cost at all. And it’s pretty easy to make too.
Take three electrical wires, find the middle point, and create a loop that’ll act as one of the fasteners; tape your newly made fastener to a solid surface, and then braid the rest of the bracelet as illustrated in the video tutorial.
2. Bowls Using Old Electrical Wires
Can’t figure out what to do with the bunch of old electrical wires in your clutter box? Turn them into artistic, decorative bowls, and add oomph to your space at zero cost while saving the planet from more electrical waste. For this project, you’ll only need a piece of stretchy fabric (in any color you fancy) and a hot glue gun.
Wind the fabric around the wire until it is wholly covered, adding glue every 3 inches to hold it in place. Find a small bowl whose shape you like, and wind the fabric-covered wire around it while hot-gluing to create a mini-decorative bowl.
3. DIY Wire Sculpture
Ever tried making a sculpture? If not, this cool DIY idea using cables and wires is a chance to try your hand at it finally.
Pick a design (it could be as simple or as complex as you want), print it out, and create the sculpture by following the outline on your printout. Just make sure you stick to one continuous line so the sculpture can be perfect.
4. Wall Hangings From Old Ethernet Cable Wires
Want to spruce up that bare wall in your living room? Don’t splurge on one. Instead, put your old Ethernet cable wires into good use by creating a wall hanging.
You’ll need a cardboard piece, copper wires from old Ethernet cables, black sequins or beads (you could opt for any color), and a thin, golden fabric piece to add some oomph.
Cut out the cardboard into three circular pieces as shown in the video, spray-paint them white, and then cut out smaller leaf-shaped cardboard pieces and spray-paint them green.
Wrap your copper wires around a pencil to create a spring-like element, run a piece of thread through it and then tie both ends to create tiny, flower-like decorative elements that you’ll later glue around the two larger cardboard circles and to the center of your small one.
Lastly, glue and combine everything as illustrated above, and hey presto! You have a unique wall hanging at zero cost.
5. Electrical Wires Into a Glowing Beads Tree
This DIY project doesn’t just put your old cables and wires to good use; it also lets you create an incredibly unique piece of décor for your bedside drawer. And it’s pretty easy to make too.
Cut long electrical wires into two palm-length bits, remove the insulation, and twist the resulting copper wires on two similarly sized, twisted, flexible cables.
Next, make the branches by splitting the copper wires into two, and then twist each individually to create multiple branches. You may even add more copper wires onto the trunk to create more branches, making your tree appear more natural.
Finally, twist your glowing beads onto each branch, and then create a base for your tree by adding shredded papers, followed by beads into a small container. Create roots for your wire tree as shown in the video above, insert it in the container, and give it a home.
6. Protect Your Charging & USB Cable 100% Using Flexible Wires
Although Apple makes incredible iPhones, its Lightning charging cables aren't very rugged and have been known to break within a few weeks of usage. This simple DIY project lets you solve that problem. And like other DIY projects using old cables and wires on this list, it’s pretty straightforward.
Take a piece of colored thread, twist it to create two strands and then, using a small piece of copper wire, tie the looped end down on the connector to hold it down (or you can tape it down to a solid surface). Take one of the strands and braid it around the length of your cable until where it meets the connector.
Free the looped part, then pull the remaining end of the strand you were braiding earlier through the loop to create a knot. Tighten it as illustrated in the video and you’ll have not only protected your charging cable, you’ll also have embellished it into a unique charging cable.
You may even cover the rest of the cable’s length to make it look better and increase its longevity. This hack works for other wires too, and even earphones. Another way to go about this project is by twisting a naked copper wire where the cable meets the connector.
7. Flash Drive: Cool Sawed-off USB Wire
Tired of having your colleagues misplace your flash drive? This cool DIY idea using cables and wires will be a game-changer. It lets you disguise your flash drive as a frayed USB cable and is pretty easy to make too.
Cut the cable in half to make it look like a damaged cable. Then cut and remove the connector, but leave the casing to create space for your USB flash drive. Finally, insert your flash drive and glue it in place to complete the project.
Check out this step by step guide to completing this project successfully.
Repurpose Your Old Cables and Wires
In this day and internet age, you can repurpose nearly anything into something meaningful, as proven by the seven cool DIY ideas here using old cables and wires. Which one was your favorite? Put your old cables and electrical wires to good use by making it.