Maybe you thought I was crazy to still be using a Sony Mavica digital camera with a handy floppy disk slot, but as Carol Mangis pointed out, I could put all those disks to use some day by building something.
Why not make a bag? This guy did. He found a whole bunch of disks in a dumpster and decided to recycle them. After all, who has a floppy disk drive anymore?
My disk collection is much more colorful--blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and standard black. I don't have enough disks or the patience to make a carrying case, so I decided accessories were the way to go.
Instead of a giant clock around my neck I've got a giant disk. I see an uber dorky version of Flavor of Love in the future. . . Floppies make great earrings too. Even a cool belt or belly chain. Super sexy too, right?
To make the earrings I simply bent paper clips and stuck them in the ready-made holes in the disk. Obviously I would use sterilized findings if I were to really wear these things. For the necklace I used strap from an old press pass and hooked it onto the disk through the same hole. The belt was a bit trickier since I didn't have a real belt in my cube. Instead I tied an audio cable around my waist and attached the disk using a paper clip, again. Of course, once I open my Floppy Disk Fashion Boutique I'll be using silver, gold, and Swarovski crystals.

Do you guys have any more suggestions for what to do with old, useless floppy disks?

September 28, 2006 1:01 PM
Years ago the folks at the magazine Internet Underground did an entire dress out of AOL floppies (yeah, I'm old, bite me :) ). I probably have the magazine still where and should try and make a scan of it. It was freakin funnier than hell.
September 28, 2006 1:07 PM
Please do scan it and send it to us at Gearlog--we'd love to see it!
September 28, 2006 1:17 PM
When I was a LAN manager for a University Library that will go unnamed I found a brand new box of floppy disks that some one was throwing out. I hung on to them figuring they could come in handy. While camping at my ranch we got a great idea. We clipped the floppies to a clothes line and had some target practice fun. It was a nice challenge to see who could shoot out the hub. It makes a nice bulleye. Needless to say I was scrambling around a few weeks later to find a floppy. I needed to set up a raid array and had no floppy. Karma is a bitch. :P
February 6, 2007 2:19 AM
I gots lots of these!
You just gave me an idea. I am going to make some bag tags for my sons school, activities bags.
Some other ideas I can think of:
(1) door curtain (the type that is just strings of things that you can go thru) -- retro.
(2) use 5 of them to make a cube pen cup
(3) make a taller / broader / both taller and broader versions of (2) for knick-knacks.
(4) make a 3x4 as placemats. Make a even longer one as table runners?
(4) make a belt to go with your earrings?!
March 16, 2007 6:06 PM
I would not call it particularly arty, but the idea itself is a lot of fun. That is something to keep your nieces or daughters busy for a couple of hours! :)
June 29, 2007 1:04 PM
A ref at a fencing tournament had been hard pressed to find his yellow, red and black cards for rules infractions. He used three appropriately colored floppies for the day.