What do you do with all those dud discs?
You know the kind I mean-
-that CD of Joe Nobody playing Golden Oldies on nose flute that you got for $1 and are too ashamed to give to Auntie Flo after all
-the CD you burnt with that one song you were obsessed with, listened to 40,000 times and never want to hear again
-the CD your ex gave you with sappy songs you never liked
- the free sample film/TV show promo or software CD
-the game you played in 1990- and is a bit outdated
- the install disc from 3 printers ago, or the camera you lost
- the “Gonna make you a MILLIONAIRE” DVD that seemed good
-the DVD you tried to make that won’t play on any of your DVD players (or that you maybe wouldn’t want anyone to see anyhow)
-the CD or DVD you mucked up when you burnt it,
- and most annoying of all, the brand new CD that your computer won’t record onto no matter what you do!
What a waste to throw away these potentially valuable, shiny, beautifully formed objects.. so I set myself the task of coming up with new uses for them- some obvious, some practical, some fun, some just silly. It seemed like a worthwhile thing to do at the time.... and after numerous hours of experimenting and photographing, here’s the list.
You know the kind I mean-
-that CD of Joe Nobody playing Golden Oldies on nose flute that you got for $1 and are too ashamed to give to Auntie Flo after all
-the CD you burnt with that one song you were obsessed with, listened to 40,000 times and never want to hear again
-the CD your ex gave you with sappy songs you never liked
- the free sample film/TV show promo or software CD
-the game you played in 1990- and is a bit outdated
- the install disc from 3 printers ago, or the camera you lost
- the “Gonna make you a MILLIONAIRE” DVD that seemed good
-the DVD you tried to make that won’t play on any of your DVD players (or that you maybe wouldn’t want anyone to see anyhow)
-the CD or DVD you mucked up when you burnt it,
- and most annoying of all, the brand new CD that your computer won’t record onto no matter what you do!
What a waste to throw away these potentially valuable, shiny, beautifully formed objects.. so I set myself the task of coming up with new uses for them- some obvious, some practical, some fun, some just silly. It seemed like a worthwhile thing to do at the time.... and after numerous hours of experimenting and photographing, here’s the list.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: Fun for kids
1. Make a mini magic magnet skate rink (see pics 1 & 2): make a tiny ice skater from thick paper; tape it into a bent paper clip so it stands up, put it on the shiny side of the disc and use a small magnet underneath to make it move around
2. Make a racetrack from cardboard, make “wheelies” by gluing discs to both ends of a cotton reel (or something similar), then race your wheelies
3. Make play-dough for your child - pics 3 , 4 & 5 (mix 1 cup/mug of flour and 1/2 cup salt, stir in a large spoonful of cooking oil then add enough hot water to make a firm dough; colour with food colouring); use discs for pretend plates, to cut the dough up to play with, to press it flat and to make patterns in the dough.
2. Make a racetrack from cardboard, make “wheelies” by gluing discs to both ends of a cotton reel (or something similar), then race your wheelies
3. Make play-dough for your child - pics 3 , 4 & 5 (mix 1 cup/mug of flour and 1/2 cup salt, stir in a large spoonful of cooking oil then add enough hot water to make a firm dough; colour with food colouring); use discs for pretend plates, to cut the dough up to play with, to press it flat and to make patterns in the dough.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
For the rest of the world, if your neighbors (and village/town/city police, etc.) are tolerable, you can glue two disks back to back (shiny sides out) and hang them from fishing line or similar from trees so they can spin in the wind. We created an entire CD tree which everyone loved (until our village decided the flash could possibly distract drivers...after two years of the village council copying us...and one of them finally got in trouble with a passing-through county sheriff). Hang them from sculptures, foliage, eaves, etc. The spinning creates great patterns, and if you have colored spotlights, you can have an outdoor disco.
Six doubled CD's are hanging outside my now. They look entirely different from what I had expected when holding them indoors. Beautiful!
That's a good idea to hang the CDs double!
I do have instructions for a key transposer wheel (made on cardboard) on my website, www.cathyschords.com
I would be interested to see how you could do one with a CD:)
I guess it would be too hard to throw them up like clay pigeons ...
I LOVE your CD tree! If you had somewhere near lights and away from the road, it could be spectacular and safe too.
Thanks for the ideas!
The CD tree was fantastic, and we eventually did recreate one in our backyard (enclosed by a fence). They're also really fun to hang over a fish pond - back when we had fish (who were incredibly curious about light flashes and not the least bit scared), we had a number dangling on lines over the pond. The multiple reflections looked stunning, especially with red and green spotlights.
The fish pond set-up sounds lovely, too.
Your music transposer looks really good, and very hardy.
Mine is just made from cardboard, but I laminated it and it has lasted well. I thought I might do an Instructable on it one day when I get time, but I have clear instructions on my website.
I also use CD's to scare birds away from my black berry bushes. I drilled a small hole in the top and strung some clear fishing line on them and then hung them on the branches of my berry bush.
Plant markers.
Stringing several together by their edges is a flashy kite tail.
46. Attach to clothing to make self more visible other vehicles at night, while walking, shoveling snow, etc.
47. Heat in boiling water and cut out a sawblade pattern. Useful for scaring people.
48. Use for target practice. if the cd survives the heat from the bullets (and holes) make nice patterns on the disc, but make sure the cd isn't reflecting the sun at you ^^
drilled a hole near the "top" edge with a 1" spade bit and used it as a planchette for a handcrafted spirit board -- sometimes decorating with paper, sometimes just using a blank frisbee disc,
covered with paper and painted up for a pendulum board,
melted and warped creatively for Arty Art (use a microtorch and hold the thing with pliers) (this is more satisfying than it ought to be),
used to make a platter type display for my table at crafty shows,
drilled lots of little holes in them (I heart my drill press) and hung earrings from the edge, epoxied a dowel rod though the hole and stuck the whole thing in a bucket of marbles for a display (do more than one and at different levels for a whimsical effect),
chopped them up carefully with a fine-bladed jewellery saw and made earrings, charms, bracelets, magnets, and ornaments out of the pieces,
made a curtain out of them so it's shiny on one side and decoupaged Arty Deep Thoughts re: communication on the label side,
glued to a convex clock lens of exactly the same diameter for a scrying tool (paint the inside of the clock lens black). Glued a strong magnet inside so the thing is magnetic,
and created shiny mobiles from whole and chopped up CDs.
Another idea--cut up or break into small pieces. Use them as mosaic tiles. You can use regular mosaic style glue--just wipe off any smears. Then grout. Clean.
Did the CDs work to scare away the birds? Someone told me they wouldn't- but maybe that's our Aussiebirds- budgies love their own reflection!
Thanks for the ideas:)
Thanks for sharing them!!
We have lots of space and don't throw hard, but you're quite right- they could hurt.
They'd be OK thrown at a (non-living) target, or into a container :)
50. Tie several of them together with colorful yarn and string for a very shiny, '90's take on a 70's fashion' belt
http://danielson.laurentian.ca/qualityoflife/Fulltext/Textiles/Making_a_cd_drop_spindle.htm
http://danielson.laurentian.ca/qualityoflife/Fulltext/Textiles/Making_a_cd_drop_spindle.htm