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CD Spindle Earring Stand

A very simple project to take the leftover stuff from a stack of blank CDs and make a stand to hold earrings.

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Step 1Find a suitable CD stack spindle

I had a stack of blank CDs stored on this spindle. There was also a plastic cover, but it's unfortunately gone to the landfill, as I couldn't figure out another use for it.
But the spindle that held the blank CDs was quite nice, and the little plastic top that held the whole thing together screwed on nicely.

Obviously this won't work with just any spindle without some ingenuity. Hopefully whatever you have lying around can be made to work.

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40 comments

Apr 14, 2012. 6:06 PMkattynasco says:

can you make one for bracelets too? i have a ton of them that dont fit on my jewelery stand. ive got to stop stashing up on jewelry, really, i do....
gotta have it though, its like a part of my life!

Dec 25, 2011. 7:34 AMcharlottechen says:

I got one of them too from my DIYing Dad! In silver! A great idea and all my earrings fit :-)

Dec 9, 2011. 11:16 AMa918bmxr says:

here it is
double decker with spinning discs

Dec 9, 2011. 9:35 AMa918bmxr says:

just an idea...
make the cds spin for easier access with two or more layers...
i am going to give this a try

Jul 25, 2010. 9:11 PMArcticLiz says:

Wow! :D definetly trying! :D

Apr 7, 2010. 6:13 PMTeensy Doodles says:

Nice idea! I'll make this and add the cover so that the earrings won't get dusty. 5 stars~

Aug 17, 2009. 1:06 PMdiablo11 says:

Great idea, I am a woodturner and turn these. An idea is get a bigger spindle and mount two cd's about 2 or 3 inches apart and it will hold twice as many earrings.

Jul 6, 2009. 12:53 PMSasza says:

I bet you could probably and another row of holes for extra "storage space." I'm definitely going to try this out.

May 3, 2009. 7:58 PM

Short One says:

Cool. This gave me some idea's for my friends with pierced ears!

May 3, 2009. 5:44 PMstephenniall says:

hmm bet you could make a bigger version with a motor for ties or something

Mar 27, 2008. 7:43 PMKarumi says:

I made one using your inspiration, and kinda made it my own. Have a look~
Thank you for the inspiration though!

Click here!

Mar 12, 2009. 7:04 PMmatbh says:

nice fender detail...

Mar 28, 2008. 5:10 AMsabbott (author) says:

Interesting -- I see you painted the stand silver, and used a guitar pick and screw to handle the mounting to the base. I see you have a "do not reproduce" copyright on your picture -- wow...

Mar 12, 2009. 7:02 PMmatbh says:

maybe u can use the cover of the cd tube to avoid dust.... or if u have long earrings u can use a 100 cd tube!!! humm!!! great ideia

Oct 25, 2008. 9:41 PMAznPanda says:

LoLZ Sexy Earings :D nice stand ;D

Apr 30, 2008. 3:47 PMyokotei says:

this is a terrific project. my mom makes jewelry in her spare time, and was selling it at a flea market this past weekend. i made her a couple of these, and they caught a lot of attention. i didn't have half the supplies, or the little plastic thing that would go on top of the attached disc. i had to substitute hot glue for epoxy and my sister's eyelet puncher for a drill T_T

Oct 24, 2008. 1:16 PMcowscankill says:

Whoa! My friend's mom makes jewelry and sells it on Ebay. One day, she wanted to go to a flea market, so I spent the night and went with him. She made more than a hundred bucks, suprising not only me and my friend, but his mom as well.

Oct 8, 2008. 10:03 PMsalvadorkatz says:

very neat...thankx for sharing...i'll try this later...

Apr 13, 2008. 4:06 PMcaligirl says:

I just finished my ear ring holder and it works great. It holds 18 pairs of wire ear rings. I also decorated it a bit by using a butterfly lapel pin that the back was broken off of. Made a nice top cover.

Jan 4, 2008. 2:26 AMMjPadfoot says:

i love this! i have so many earrings and they're all jumbled up. this way, at least i'll know what i have. i wonder if u can do the same thing but with a longer spindle thingy and some hooks in the holes to use as a necklace holder...

Jan 4, 2008. 7:44 AMsabbott (author) says:

Yup, me too. I think I actually need a second one. [chuckle] I've been wondering about the necklace idea also. Haven't actually tried it yet, but am scrounging stuff that might work. Hooks in the holes is a good idea. That was one of the parts I was stumped on, but now that you say it, it seems obvious. Just some little cheap s-hooks from the hardware store would work.

Jan 5, 2008. 9:40 AMMjPadfoot says:

glad to have been of help! but ur still the creator of this marvelous idea. one question though...doesn't the cd break when u try to drill the holes? cheers! Mojo

Mar 28, 2008. 5:05 AMsabbott (author) says:

If you put the CD on a wooden surface, and use a good drill bit (i.e. sharp, designed for hard materials) and clamp the CD down, it doesn't seem to be a problem. I think I used a bit that is good for soft metals, not a bit designed for wood. I've since built a second one and it was not a problem drilling. what have others found?

Aug 26, 2007. 12:39 PMhethlee says:

Great Idea! I love it. I made an earring holder out of a grease splatter but this is wonderful!

Mar 11, 2008. 7:56 AM

Lithium Rain says:

How did you make an earring holder out of a splatter of grease? Sculpt it?

Mar 11, 2008. 12:03 PMhethlee says:

Check out my project. You will see how I flipped the handle of a grease splatter back to create a great and easy to use earring holder.

Mar 11, 2008. 4:47 PM

Lithium Rain says:

I will, but I was kidding. A play on the word "splatter". It could mean a lump of grease that pops out at you and then congeals on the counter. Or a useful kitchen aid. :)

Nov 23, 2007. 2:03 PMMingo says:

i'm going to make one too, but it would be much more 'stylish' if you painted the base so it didn't look like platic. i'm thinking of black enamel.

Nov 2, 2007. 6:18 PMPatented says:

thanks you!il do this for my sister

Oct 23, 2007. 4:54 PMDELETED_outdoorsman2014 says:

(removed by author or community request)

Oct 30, 2007. 1:54 PMsabbott (author) says:

interesting. I had a look at it, the base is a good idea. I'd love to find more ways to use these things.

Sep 28, 2007. 2:30 PMsabbott (author) says:

Thanks for the feedback, it's great to hear that others have tried this out and had success with it. I'm trying to figure out more things to do with old CDs and similar electronic media once they are history.

Sep 28, 2007. 12:16 PMrunez says:

made one out of the old dvd-r's i had around. realised that when drilling dvds they tend to delaminate, sometimes this means the shiny material breaks off unevenly.. had to try it on a few dvds before it worked out. anyways, this is a great idea! thanks!

Sep 10, 2007. 8:38 AMCrimsonFlash says:

This is a great idea. I made one for a friend of mine who has lot's of earrings. I even found a CD with a purple bottom, and put that facing up, since her favroute colour is purple. I hope she likes it. *crosses fingers* (The picture is bad quality, but it gets the point across.)

Sep 10, 2007. 10:07 AMsabbott (author) says:

Fantastic! It's great to see another one. Not all CD spindles ill work for this -- so I'm happy to see at least one other person has been able to make this work. Thanks so much for uploading the image!