I’ve been shooting a lot of Polaroids lately and have been accumulating a bunch of empty film cartridges. I decided I should try to make something out them. I know alot of people use bits and pieces of the cartridges for different projects, but I decided to try and come up with ways of using the whole or most of the cartridge. Please let me know if you have any other ideas. The first thing that came to my mind was picture frame (perfect for holding one of the poloroids), but I thought it was a shame not to make use of the slot in the back. So, I came up with this fridge-magnet pen holder.

First take a apart a Polaroid cartridge. BTW- I’m using a classic film cartridge, but I think one of the new cartridges (from newer 600 cameras) would work too, just make sure to remove the battery pack.

To take the cartridge apart you can slide the inside part out or just squeeze the sides to unhinge the bottom. This will leave you w/ 2 metal pieces (the inside and the back) and 1 plastic piece (the outside/top).

Next, spray paint the pieces. The only piece that really needs to be sprayed is the top, plastic piece. I like using a plastic primer, that way I can use any can of spray paint I like and I don’t need to buy the special plastic kind of spray paint (which does not come in many colors).

Next, place the picture you want you use in between the middle piece and the top frame piece. Attach by snapping on the bottom piece. You can center the photo better once it’s in place. Also, you may want to cut the foam off the bottom piece because it tends to fold and get in the way.

Then, just attach the magnets and your set.