What do you do with those old CDs that you can’t use anymore? There’s a long tradition of making art from old CDs dating back to the days when AOL shipped out millions of CDs to mailboxes all over the country. CD arts and crafts have become even more popular as the importance of recycling has grown. Check out these ideas for making art from old CDs. Coasters from Old CDs Years ago, computer programmers around the world figured out that an AOL CD was the perfect thing to keep coffee rings off your desktop. It’s just the right size for the bottom of a coffee mug. Since then, crafters have offered dozens of variations on the old coffee coasters from old CDs meme. The basic process is simple. Decorate one side of the CD as desired. Cut a felt circle the same size as the CD. Glue the felt circle to the undecorated side of the CD. Need ideas for decorating your CD coasters? Here’s just a few: Make a photo collage by gluing photos to cover the front of the CD. Cover with clear adhesive paper. Paint a design with acrylic paints. Make a 3-D CD coaster by cutting out pieces of 2-3 CDs, stacking them so that the cutouts reveal the CDs below, and topping the stack with a clear spacer CD. Engrave the shiny side of the CD with a Dremel tool. Disco Ball from Old CDs There are several different versions of CD Disco Balls out there ranging from Christmas ornament size to full-size take-it-to-the-club balls. Again, the basic process for making a disco ball from old CDs is the same, no matter what the size. Start with a ball form for the core. A styrofoam ball works well. Cut old CDs into rectangular pieces with snips. Glue the old CD pieces to the ball shiny side out. Add a hanging string and hang it up. The finished CD ball makes a great sun catcher. Photo Frames from Old CDs Old CDs are also the perfect size to serve as a frame for a standard size photograph. There are ways to turn unused CDs into photo magnets, photo holders and photo frames. The process varies, depending on the finished product. One of the most innovative CD photo frames uses this method. Cut photo to fit CD. Glue photo to CD back. Glue a strip of hook and loop tape like Velcro to the back. Make several. “Hang” photos on the wall by sticking the fuzzy side of the Velcro tape to the wall. Using Velcro tape to hang the photos makes it very easy to rearrange photos to your heart’s content. CD Suncatchers and Mobiles The reflective coating on CDs makes them perfect sun catchers and reflectors. Whether they’re hung in a window or in the middle of a ceiling, alone or in groups, old CDs and sunlight can turn a bedroom into a rainbow. This is the easiest way to turn a CD into a sun-catching decoration. Use a Dremel tool or electric drill with a fine drill bit to drill holes in the CD. For a sun catcher, drill one hole about 1/4 inch from the edge of the disc. Hang from a suction cup hook holder. For a mobile, drill several holes evenly spaced around the rim of the disc. Use monofilament thread to make a hanging loop, and to hang other CDs at different heights around the disc. CD Room Divider A room divider made from old, unused CDs is a much more ambitious project. It requires 20 to 40 CDs, depending on the size of the divider, and some carpentry skills. The frame can be made from wood, metal or plastic, and can be any size, as long as the center is open. Make an open frame out of wood or any other material. Space cup hooks evenly along inside top and bottom edges of the frame. Use a Dremel or rotary drill to make holes on the edges of the CDs. String CDs together using varying lengths of monofilament threads. Make as many strands of CDs as there are pairs of hooks. Loop one end of monofilament thread over each hook in the top frame. Stretch down to loop the bottom end of the strand over the bottom hook, making sure to keep the strand taut. There are literally dozens of ways to upcycle those old CDs and keep them out of the landfills. These are just a few of the best ones out there.
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Artwork From Old CDs – Five Projects to Make With CDs Instead of Throwing Them Away
Five Most Popular Christmas Ornaments
Initially, eatable ornaments were the most widely used Christmas ornaments With time, their transition to beautiful glass bulbs and other important items began and all these became an important part of Christmas tree decoration. Five of the most popular ornaments of Christmas tree are illuminating ornaments, movable ornaments, musical ornaments, and Edible ornaments and attracting decorative pieces. 1. Illuminating Ornaments – Lightening of Christmas tree is an old tradition. Earlier it was lit up with the help of beautiful candles but now several things are used for the illumination of these trees. Nowadays, it is decorated by using exquisite electric lights, multicolored bulbs and dazzling electronic drapes. Illuminated Christmas ornaments are also amongst the costliest ornaments in the markets today, with their prices starting at $20 on the lower side. 2. Movable Ornaments – these are the latest in Christmas ornaments. With unique appearance, they are attracting almost every buyer. With the flexibility to move about, these ornaments are becoming highly popular. You can avail it in a price range, which is almost similar to the range of illuminating ornaments. 3. Musical Ornaments – You adorned your tree with illuminating ornaments and made it mobile as well. Now, add the musical temptation to your trees. Musical ornaments give a special mood to the celebration and make you more joyful. Besides, with the advent of advanced technology you can use different musical gadgets to decorate your Christmas tree. From gadgets capable of playing a few songs to gadgets having flash memories spanning over several GB s of space, there is a lot of variety these days. 4. Edible Ornaments- Edible ornaments have the oldest history amongst all the Christmas ornaments. They were the first to be used as Christmas tree decorations. Though in initial days there was nothing extravagant about edible ornaments, but, today people are using cookies, candies, chocolates and muffins to drape their Christmas trees- making them look and taste better. These decorations are very popular among kids. 5. Small attractive pieces – There is a vast list of small pieces, which offer a great look to Christmas trees. Many people use small soft toys to decorate their trees while ribbon, colorful crape papers, vintage star, wreath ornaments are also extensively used. These small ornaments not only enhance the splendor of Christmas tree, but also add more liveliness to the ceremony. Beautify the tree with all these ornaments and let people adore your great sense of embellishment.
The Top Five Organizers for Christmas Ornament Storage
A great deal of time and money is usually spent decorating our homes for the holidays. After investing these resources, we do not want to risk losing our decorations to water damage, breakage, or by misplacing them. The best way to prevent this from happening is to purchase storage containers which are made specifically to store holiday items. It is important to buy enough of these containers to avoid overcrowding your decorations. After carefully packing away your holiday items, placing the storage containers in a safe place. With the variety of storage containers available, it can be difficult to decide which container you should purchase. Here are some of the containers that you can choose from, as well as some reasons why they are a good choice. Ornament Storage Boxes – Ornament storage boxes are used to store Christmas tree ornaments. They not only prevent your ornaments from being broken, but they also make it much easier to take down your tree. When you use an ornament storage box, you do not need to wrap your ornaments in tissue or newspaper. Ornament storage boxes are plastic boxes that are divided into smaller partitions. These partitions keep your ornaments from hitting against one another, which can scratch or break your ornaments. The plastic box is extremely sturdy, which allows you to stack your boxes of Christmas decorations on top of each other without the risk of crushing the ornaments. Christmas Light Storage Box – Christmas lights are a storage nightmare. Christmas lights can easily become tangled and they can be difficult to store. If you manage to remove them from your tree or the outside of your house without tangling them in a hopeless ball, odds are that by next year, they may have found a way to tangle themselves. A Christmas light storage box is a plastic box that contains inserts for your lights. Each insert sits upright in the box, and in slots that run down each side. You remove one of the inserts and wrap a string of lights around it. You then slide it back into the box. By the time you have removed all of the lights from around your home, the storage box may be full, but each set of lights should be tangle free. Wreath Storage Containers – Boxes made specifically for wreath storage are an excellent addition to Christmas storage. They provide a sturdy home for your wreath so that it is not crushed, and take up little room. A wreath is fragile and they can become damaged very easily. These boxes are an excellent way to prevent them from becoming damaged and they can last much longer. Regular Plastic Containers – Many of the items that are used for holiday decorations do not have their own storage container. Train sets, stockings, candles and ceramic figurines are all part of the holiday scene, and need to be carefully stored. For these items, you may have to use a regular plastic storage container. These containers are not specifically made for what you are storing in them, so packing is more important. Use as small of a box as possible, and fill any empty space in the box with crumpled newspapers so that your decorations do not slide around. Plastic Storage Bags – Plastic storage bags are an excellent storage solution for many holiday items. While they should not be used for breakable items, they are a great choice for oddly shaped or sized decorations. Plastic storage bags should not provide any real reinforcement, but can keep the item clean and shielded from sunlight and moisture while it is in storage. With the combination of these five organizers, you should be able to safely store all of your holiday decorations. They all provide protection for your items from breakage as well as dust and UV damage. Once you purchase these organizational tools, take the time to carefully pack your ornaments, removing hooks before putting them in the ornament box. Make sure that all of your decorations are clean before packing them away. For ornaments that you can wipe clean, use a damp cloth. Soft or cloth items can be cleaned with a gently pass of your hairdryer. A few extra minutes spent packing away your holiday ornaments can help ease the organizational headache that happens each year during the holiday season. Clean, well-packed ornaments, organized in containers made for the items you are storing, is the best way to ensure that your sentimental favorites make it safely from year to year. Next holiday season you should consider these storage solutions as they can greatly reduce the stress of locating your decorations. Many benefits are provided by properly storing your holiday items and the most important reason is that you can prevent your memorable Christmas ornaments from becoming damaged.
