How To: DIY iPad Stand and Stylus, Plus 8 More Ways to Recycle Old Chopsticks

Chopsticks are very easily reusable, yet they always get thrown away. You use them when you get Chinese takeout, then toss them out without even a backwards glance.

Next time, you should consider recycling them, because with a bit of creativity you can turn those old chopsticks into something worth keeping around. Check out these chopstick-related projects, then tell us what you would use your own chopsticks for!

Practice Chopsticks

This first one is technically related to the traditional use of chopsticks, but it's very clever for those struggling when eating with chopsticks. Lunch in a Box has an easy way to turn those regular chopsticks into user-friendly practice chopsticks!

iPad Stylus

So, how about you put that chopstick to use with something you make use of everyday, like a tablet? Instructables user hixair has come up with a way to turn an old chopstick into a useful new stylus. No more fingerprints on the screen! And it sure beats the hefty price tag of these commercial chopstick styluses.

Cleaning Utensil

Cleaning your electronics is a painful task because off all the little crevices that are nearly impossible to get dirt and dust out of. But not anymore—Taryn Fiol from Apartment Therapy demonstrates how chopsticks are perfect to use as cleaning devices for things like video game controllers and keyboards!

iPad Stand

So you already made the chopstick stylus for your iPad, now you need something else to go along with it. How about an iPad holder?

There's also this version, which takes the easel approach.

Knitting Needles

A chopstick's long, tapered shape makes for the perfect DIY knitting needles. Cassiemarie on Craftser has a good tutorial that shows you how to convert your chopsticks and make the most of them.

Stripped Screw Hole Fixer

A stripped screw hole is one of the worst things ever. Once it happens, there's no way to make things better—unless you have a chopstick! Christine Dinus shared with This Old House shows a cool trick for using a single chopstick to make the nightmare of stripped screw holes a thing of the past!

Stylus Pen

In the same vein as the chopstick iPad stylus, Instructables user DanYHKim made this tutorial, which shows you how to turn a chopstick into a regular pen.

Pocket Abacus

This person really thought outside of the box by turning their old chopsticks into mini abacuses. See how to make your own over at the Daily Portal. Also, the website is in Japanese, but good thing there's Google Translate!

Bowl

What if you have a ton of chopsticks to reuse and you want to do it all at once? Then check out this chopsticks bowl.

Dress

If you want something a little more stylish, try out a homemade dress made of chopsticks, like this one from ComFy. I wonder how comfortable this truly is though, and how exactly it was made.

What do you think of these creative uses for chopsticks? Can you think of anything else that's better than these? Tell us about it below!