Saturday Night Fever Mini Disco Ball

Do you miss the 70's - do you long for the flares, platform boots and shiny lifestyle as shown in Saturday Night Fever? Well long no longer because with this simple instructable, I will turn your living room into a night club, your missus into a dancing queen and you into dance legend John Travolta. And all you need are a few old DVDs!

Step 1: Preparing the DVD: Separating the layers

WARNING: DVD dust can get into your nose and eyes, plus there may be shards of plastic, please take care. You might want to think about a ventilation mask, goggles or gloves. Plus keep your workspace clean and tidy.

Okay, now let's begin:

First of all, raid the DVD cupboard - there must be some crap in their that you regret buying. Mine was Into The Sun with Steven Seagal (don't ask), but any DVD will do. Please don't use your Mum's favorite Barry Manilow in Las Vegas DVD though.

Most DVDs have TWO layers, it is the SHINY layer that we want, so we have to remove the COVER layer. To do this, we need to create a tab on the top layer so that we can pull the layers apart. Click on the steps below for how to do this.

Comments

[hethlee]

instead of crumpled up newspaper try a styrofoam ball that way it's perfectly round. I like it though!

[brendanconnal]

Dear Hethlee, Thank you for your suggestion. There was torrential rain the day I made this, so I could not leave the house. I just picked up what I found around me. I am very concerned about the environment, so for me these projects are more about reducing the waste in my household. The paper wasn't perfect. If I made another one, I would find an old tennis ball. However, I really do appreciate your comments, and I hope to see you again on my future instructables. Brendan

[hethlee]

ooh tennis ball- great idea

[brendanconnal]

Dear Hethlee. I think that the tiles will also stick better to the fuzzy surface of the tennisball - what do you think? Brendan

[aireekah]

You've probably found this out by now, but I definitely think it would stick better to a fuzzy surface! It's funny, I saw your disco ball thumbnail and immediately thought, "I should make a CD disco ball with a portable LED light pointing at it!" and then saw you used a DVD. It's great re-using these things. Did you know you can make awesome glitter out of the top layer of CD's?

[SpecEd]

Cool idea. This MAY be the first instructable I actually get to doing :o) What about old racquetballs? Their surface seems more amenable to gluing.

[hethlee]

Yeah, good call brendanconnal. I might spraypaint the tennis ball first though- black maybe? or silver

[brendanconnal]

You can call me Brendan ;-)

[hethlee]

lol, well then you can call me heather

[brendanconnal]

Nice eyes Heather!

[Noodle god]

another thing if your cd keeps snapping you might wanna wear safety glasses I almost got some in my EYE!!

[silverchakra]

Hi Brendan! I love your disco ball! It looks wonderful! I'm easily distracted by bright, shiny things-lol! I really do love anything that sparkles. I wanted to offer a "tip" for anyone working with CD's/DVD's when you need to cut them. It helps a great deal if you heat them a bit first with a heat gun (or I guess a blow dryer might work) before you begin to cut. Really makes a great deal of difference. I make jewelry with CD's, use them for mosaics, etc. and heating first is the way to go! Next, I want to mosaic a bowling ball. I saw this done on a show and it looked fantastic! I'm new here and your disco ball was the first thing I checked out! Thanks for sharing it!

[brendanconnal]

Dear silverchakra, Wow, such high praise. The very first instructable you looked at - fantastic. You are going to give me a big head. I think that the hair dryer idea is a good one, but be careful not to warp the CD too much, or indeed over heat it too much and breathe in toxic fumes. I would love to see some pictures of your jewellery, and indeed your bowling ball once it is complete. How will you get the mosaic to saty on the ball when it is in use? Keep up the good work, and be sure to keep an eye on my future instructables. Best regards, Brendan p.s. if you really like my idea go up to the right hand corner and rate my instructable - thanks!

[silverchakra]

Hi Brendan! I love your disco ball! It looks wonderful! I'm easily distracted by bright, shiny things-lol! I really do love anything that sparkles. I wanted to offer a "tip" for anyone working with CD's/DVD's when you need to cut them. It helps a great deal if you heat them a bit first with a heat gun (or I guess a blow dryer might work) before you begin to cut. Really makes a great deal of difference. I make jewelry with CD's, use them for mosaics, etc. and heating first is the way to go! Next, I want to mosaic a bowling ball. I saw this done on a show and it looked fantastic! I'm new here and your disco ball was the first thing I checked out! Thanks for sharing it!

[CreativeChick8]

I'm having a disco party and I've been looking around for a disco ball. All the ones that I see run for 80 dollars to 300 dollars. But, Wow, that's cool, I've never seen anyone make their own disco balls, but now that I think of it, it couldn't be that hard, right? There were just a couple things that I would do different. Instead of making the ball that turns out not always being round, I would buy a craft styrofoam ball and cover it in resin. then I was wondering, why do you have to seperate the layers? why can't you just score it. So I did it that way FULL SIZE!!! (I conquered your request) It looks awesome. I would love to show it to you, but my digital camera's batteries just died yesterday and I haven't got around to buying new ones. lol. Great instructable. Thanks for saving my disco party!!!!

[brendanconnal]

Dear creativechick8, I am glad that I was able to save you some money. I used to work on festivals and I saw one that was two metres in diameter. It was huge. The guy that rented it out, said that they are made in Morocco. I wonder how many CDs it would have taken to make it. I would have liked to have used a styro ball, but I was in China and was only using things that I could find around the house. With regards to the separate layers, they tended to split, so I pulled them apart. I would be very keen to see your ball, so when your camera is charged up again, please post a picture. I have to go to bed now to dream of shiny disco balls. Thanks for your comments. Brendan p.s try checking out some of my other instructables - I think you will like them.

[megziewoodles]

Awesome! I've always wanted a pair of disco ball poi. Plus, I can get free Ubuntu discs!

[brendanconnal]

Dear megziewoodles, Thanks for your comments. It is good to know that can fulfil your dreams. What is Ubuntu? It sounds like an African tribe. Brendan

[megziewoodles]

It's a Linux distribution. Basically one of the newer forms of the Linux operating system. And the computing faculty at uni has a couple of boxes of CDs for it that they're trying to give away.

[threecheersfornick]

Wow! Send me a box!

[bedbugg2]

this is groovy! i want to make one and tie it to my bro's rear view mirror ive seen this done with mirror before but i like cd better cause you can get a rainbow effect you could also attach a small motor to it!

[lemonie]

It would be better to use the black pen on the other side of the CD. I like this though.

[brendanconnal]

Dear Lemonie, First I have to say that I am very pleased that you have chosen to comment on my instructable. I have seen your face around, and I like your style, cigarette holder and everything - very suave. The reason that I drew on the shiny side, is because that is the side from which I was going to cut. When I tried cutting on the other side, it broke the foil beneath, and spoiled the shiny surface. Good point though. I am going to be putting some more instructables on the list within the next week, so keep your eyes peeled. I look foward to your future comments. Brendan

[lemonie]

Right. I've never tried cutting CDs (only snapping) so I appreciate that info. L (It's not a cigarette-holder, just a long one. Aftershock shot-glasses in the eyes)

[brendanconnal]

Dear Lemonie, What flavour Aftershock? I wouldn't want the Cinnamon or Mint in my eyes! Brendan

[lemonie]

It was the cinnamon, but as I recall the glasses were empty and I felt no pain. L

[karen608]

I enjoyed reading your instructable with it's witty comments. I wonder if home burnable dvds will work, they are purple in color and that would be cool times two. Not sure if they have layers like your dvd. Enjoyed the 'hits' on past artists that aren't popular and also the warning not to use your Mum's favorite dvd etc. Thanks for the laughs, your polite comments to critics, and you! Wish you were my neighbor.

[brendanconnal]

Dear Karen, I am glad that you liked my instructable and thank you for your praise, I am sure that I would like to be your neighbour too. With regards to the burnable DVDs, I am not sure. I do not have a DVD burner so I never use them. However, if you are brave and want to hacksaw through the DVD, then you could skip the whole layer separation business. Be careful though, this is a very dusty method, and the dust is toxic. I have to wonder what your CD/DVDs of choice would be for this project - could you tell me? Plus I have to take care as Barry Manilow and Elton John are like gods in my house. Thank you for your posting and I hope that I will see your comments on my future projects. Brendan

[karen608]

Dear Brendan, Well I don't have a DVD burner, but have access to used and discarded DVDs from my church's youth department as I am the janitor. They film promos and make DVDs of mission trips to show to the adults at youth services. Seems that everything in life is hazadous to our health, like plastic dust. I have used a drill press to drill into two CDs that I glued together with toxic glue, to make suncatchers. They function also as cat toys to my four outside cats, with the addition of wire and beads dangling from the bottoms of the CDs from a series of holes. I don't think I will be making squares of DVDs but what I would like to do if I actually could - cover my husband's pickup truck with them. And my front door. As to what CD/DVDs to use: discarded ones from work or anything polka or country music. DVDs, anything with too much violence or nudity but I don't own any. Sorry for the long post to the others reading. Also, CD crafter out there, please post any ideas as this is a material we have plenty of. KC

[brendanconnal]

Dear Karen, I guess that there will be no Russian Western skin flicks featuring soundtracks by Tammy Wynette in your collection. I like the car idea, I guess that you should consult your husband first. It is not exactly macho. It makes me think of Uri Geller's spoon car: www.uri-geller.com/gallery/pics/car.jpg The cat idea is fun too, nothing like teasing a cat with shiny things - I wish had a cat. I saw a documentary once, where a woman who had fifty cats, would take their moulted fur, and spin it into wool. Good to hear from you again. Brendan

[KnittingFreak]

Hey, great Instructable! A few questions: could you use old CDs (ahem, Britney Spears??), and could you use a ligthweight ball (one of those hollow pink ones) instead of I guess making a ball out of tape?

[brendanconnal]

Hey KnittingFreak, thanks for your comments. You could use old CDs, however, I divided the DVD as the single layer is more pliable and easier to stick than the chunkier size of a CD. As for Britney, I think her time in the sun may be over - go for it! I just used a newspaper ball as it is almost free - if you have a ball, use that. Thanks again for your comments, and I look forward to seeing your comments on my future instructables.

[bumpus]

(removed by author or community request)

[brendanconnal]

Someone is in a happy mood this afternoon - thank you for pointing out that my instructable might be a little obvious, but then sometimes people appreciate obvious, still thanks for your comments, and I hope you will check out my future efforts.