Upcycling CD’s – Transform Entertainment Media into Entertaining Crafts

upcycling_cds
If you live in a typical American household, chances are you receive stacks of promotional CD’s in the mail, or have piles of outdated or scratched CD’s or DVD’s that are no longer usable. This Earth Day, try upcycling and breathe new life into entertainment media with these inspired craft project ideas.

Make Sweet Music with CD Windchimes

Things to do:
1. Use a hand drill with a small bit to drill holes around the bottom edge of a CD and a hanging hole at the top, and then paint the disc with eco-friendly acrylic paint. You can also use hot glue to affix sequins, buttons, or shells.
2. If you prefer the shiny surface, leave the CD as-is. If it’s badly scratched or gouged, use the tip of a nail to create a pattern that will incorporate the imperfections, or conceal scratches by using sandpaper to create fingertip swirls.
3. Use clear fishing line to attach castoff keys, bolts, washers, or any other musical treasures you find around the house.

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, Earth Week is the perfect time to get a jump start on eco-friendly, handmade gifts. Or, display these crafts in your own home as a decorative reminder to always be on the lookout for discovering new uses for careworn treasures.

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3 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for posting these amazing ideas! I saw something like this at a friend’s house the last time I visited them in Chicago, but never got around to asking them how they did it. Now I have have something to do with my old CDs!!

    By the way, do you have any suggestions on what I could do with some old clothes? I have a few things that have coffee stains on them but I don’t want to throw them away. Starbucks just will NOT come out.

  2. Thank you for this upcycle idea for CD’s, I have some old ones, scratched ones, and the ever so bad — bad disc, when placed in the DVD player. This craft idea is a much better way to re-use these CD’s, especially when the store will not accept the spindle of recordable CD’s, because the DVD machine DOES NOT recognize the disc. Now I can re-invest my money into this recycle project.

    I do have one tip: In the bulk CD case, there is always one disc that is clear. When you think about it, this disc could be used as a template of sorts to decide on placement of pictures for the mini album mentioned above. The clear disc is the same size as the discs that are in the spindle. Happy Crafting Everyone!

    1. I love that idea Tammy! I never even thought of that, but that would def. help when your aligning the pictures a certain way before cutting them into the cd shape. Thanks for the tip!