Nowadays, upcycling is all the rage. What could be better than turning what would otherwise be junk destined for the trash into cool accessories and pieces of art? These people have come up with some immensely creative ways to repurpose their old guitar strings. If you’re a guitar player, you probably already have a ton of these things laying around your home. Check these projects out, and perhaps you’ll be inspired to create some jewelry of your own!

Guitar String Bracelet


One Instructables user shared a detailed list of instructions for making these beautiful bracelets. According to her, the band is assembled by making two three-strand braids from acoustic guitar strings and connecting them with a bit of 20 gauge wire. When finished, you can wear it as-is or gently hammer it for some added texture.

Wood Ring with Guitar String


If rings are more your speed, you might consider checking some of Johan Rust’s jewelry out on Etsy. Rust crafts unique, personalized rings from natural finish wood, titanium, and a guitar string that you send him. These bands can make for classy mementos or thoughtful gifts for your musician friends.

Bangles


Salvaged Designs is all about upcycling. This inventive company combines guitar strings, jewelry wire, seashell beads, and Czech glass beads to create colorful, unusual bangles. Wear one on its own, or stack them up on your arm for a stunning fashion statement.

Wear Your Music Jewelry


Are you a fan of Eric Clapton, or is Tim McGraw more your speed? Wear Your Music sells bracelets made from famous musicians’ donated guitar strings and gives a portion of its profits to the charities of their choosing. These pieces of jewelry are pretty expensive, but remember that each purchase contributes to a great cause. Us budget shoppers are also in luck: the company sells a separate line of bracelets made from non-celebrity strings.

String and Pick Bracelet


Artist and guitarist Christina Nieves makes some gorgeous jewelry from worn out guitar strings as part of her EsperanzaArtGallery business. We were particularly smitten by this bracelet that also features a set of hand-stamped initials (of your choice) on a silver guitar pick. To create these bangles, Nieves uses aluminum or copper wiring to wrap three golden guitar strings together. “Subtleties in color, wear and tear of each string make every bracelet unique,” reads her Etsy page.

Pendant Drop Earrings


California’s Offbeat Accents is an equal-opportunity musical recycler. These designers incorporate parts from all sorts of musical instruments into their jewelry. Case in point: these old guitar strings have been linked together using metal from a discarded flute! The earrings hang from pieces of hand-shaped sterling silver wire.

Bronze Pendant


Jewelry-maker Damienne Grant Dibble says she crafts her pendants from bronze guitar strings, oxidized bronze beads, and copper wire. For this striking pendant, she “used a hammer to forge a springy bronze guitar string into a textured wire flourish.”

Zig Zag Ring


We love the unusual style of this guitar string ring, which has been made from both a steel electric string and a brass acoustic one. When ordering your zig zag ring, you’ll be able to choose which of the two strings you’d like on the outside and which you’d prefer on the inside. All of GStringRings’ products are forged from 100 percent recycled guitar strings and individually tailored to each customer. If you like the ring, you may want to check out the same company’s similarly-styled bracelet.