Tappingflamingo : guitar strings

Friday, October 5, 2018

Upcycle/Recycle Old Guitar Strings

Do you play a stringed instrument? How often do you change out your strings? What do you do with your old strings? Well....I'm here to tell you about a fun way to recycle your strings.

Why not upcycle them into beautiful pieces you can wear?

When I was a little girl...like about 10, I wanted to learn to play the guitar. My parents got me a guitar for Christmas, and I took a few lessons. My teacher wanted me to learn to read music, and I soon learned that I had a very difficult time with that. Sadly, due to frustration, I quit.

Fast forward 45 years.... A friend of mine invited me to her mountain dulcimer group. Reluctantly, I went, and boy, am I glad I did! Long story short...I was bitten by the bug. A few months after attending the group, I purchased my first dulcimer, and now...four years later, I still enjoy playing the mountain dulcimer!

With close to 30 people in our group in Kentucky, everyone was always changing out their strings. Soon, they were bringing me their old strings saying, "We know how crafty your are...I bet you could figure out something to do with these."

The first thing I thought of were bracelets. These are some of my first pieces.

Then I made earrings...

Christmas ornament....

and even keychains!

There are several companies now that are collecting old guitar strings and recycling them. They separate the metal and nylon strings. The metal strings are melted down and made into new metal alloys. The Nylon is recycled into industrial plastic appliances. This is all good, but to be honest, because of the process involved, this is not necessarily the best way to recycle.

The best way to recycle anything is to reuse it, and the second best way to to upcycle. Now since you really cannot reuse guitar strings, upcycling them is the best way! The brightly colored beads from the strings make great beads for jewelry, by the way....

If you are looking for a fun, unique way to save the planet by recycling, make something out of your old strings. If you are not crafty, or you don't have old instrument strings, and want to support the recycling of these metals....let me know. I can hook you up with a set of strings wrapped in a unique way....

TappingflamingoBling can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Youbube as Tappingflamingo. She also has a shop!

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

HOW DO YOU RECYCLE?

We have been blessed to live on this beautiful planet. The diversity is breath taking. From the majestic mountains right down to the expansive seas and even the colorful desserts!

It is our responsibility to take care of this place, and one way to do it is to recycle. Most of us are onboard with this, but if you live in an area like I do, you might find it difficult...or is it really that difficult?

If you can't take your bags to the local recycle center, reuse them. They make perfect trash bags. I also like to use them to wrap my shoes in when I travel, or use them to put your dirty clothes in. All of us love to swim while on vacation. Where do you put your wet suites and towels? Try one of the plastic grocery bags. There are endless ways to use those bags!

One other thing I recycle are old guitar strings. I started this back when I first picked up the mountain dulcimer. The group I played with would bring me their old strings. This started when our leader brought me her's and said to me, "Terry, you are crafty, I bet you could come up with something to make out of these." She was right! Ideas started to flow into my head.

First I made bracelets.

When the holidays started up, I made ornaments

Then earrings and pendants soon followed.

I love to cruise! Usually, our family joins the gift exchange that some of the cruises have, and so I decided to start making keychains.

Funny thing is, after I made a few of my creations, I got online to see if anyone else had made anything with old guitar strings. Well...I guess I was not the only one that had a great idea, because guitar string bracelets were everywhere...but...they were pretty pricy!

Cleaning the strings is pretty intense, but actually making most of the strings is not.

Except maybe the more elaborately beaded ones...those can be pretty intense too.

A friend of mine bought some guitar string bracelets (not from me). The bracelets had no beads or fanciness to them...and she paid $60 to $80 for them. I couldn't believe it. I don't even price my fancy ones for that. Of course, she bought them at a retail brick and mortar store, which makes a huge difference. There is a huge mark up on those type pieces so everyone involved can be paid. I don't have a middle man, so this is why I can keep my prices lower.

I love creating new pieces from old stuff. I have even taught classes and workshops on how to make guitar string bracelets. Those are always a lot of fun!

So, why not check out some creative ideas as gifts for this holiday season? TappingflamingoBling offers a new line of Princess and Cruise Ship Christmas ornaments, and even a guitar string bracelet kits!