When you upgrade some piece of your office equipment, what do you do with the old one? Sometimes you can find someone to use it, but some things are just too old for anyone to care much about. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you need to throw it out. With a little imagination and a bit of work, perhaps you can turn that old device into something useful again. For instance, if you have an old scanner taking up space, you can turn it into a light box for just a few bucks.

Light boxes can be quite handy to have around, especially for artists. Photographers can use them for viewing negatives, or someone who needs to transfer an image to another piece of paper can use the light to help them trace it. All you need to transform that old scanner is some white paint, aluminum foil, a light bulb and socket. Just take the scanner apart, clear out the parts inside and lay down the foil and position the bulb. Paint the inside of the glass white, then close it back up. For around $10, that old piece of junk is suddenly a useful tool again.