Recycled CD's Make Great Ornaments

Do you have old CD's laying around the house? Here are a couple of great craft ideas to recycle those old CD's into something fun.

Let's start by turning a CD into a fun disco ball ornament! You can use this craft around Christmas time and decorate your tree with them or use them any time of the year to hang from the ceiling. This is a fairly easy craft that older children and adults can enjoy creating together.

You will need the following materials:

7 or 8 old CD's for each ornament

5" Styrofoam ball (found at any craft store)

Thin piece of wire or string for hanging

Strong scissors (kitchen shears work well)

Low-temp glue gun

The first thing you will need to do is take the Styrofoam ball and wrap your wire or string around it, securing it with glue, make a loop at the top so you will be able to hang your disco ball later.

Now you will need to cut the CD's into small irregular pieces, approximately ½" each, you want the pieces to be similar so they will fit together nicely but not exactly the same, this craft is supposed to be a unique hand crafted decoration. Some of the pieces may crack, don't worry about that just put them to the side, you will only use ones that are the right size.

Once you have all the pieces in a pile, you will apply them one at a time to the foam ball using the low-temp glue. The pieces will not lay completely flat against the surface but fit them together as best as possible. Make sure the hanging loop does not get glued under any of the pieces.

After your disco ball is completely dry you can hang it wherever you want or share them with your friends and family as a fun little gift.

If you have younger children who can't cut up CD's yet here is another craft idea for them. You can turn old CD's into sparkly ornaments using simple gemstones that are found at any craft store.

You will need the following supplies:

2 CD's for each ornament you wish to create

Ribbon or cording

Tacky glue (or low temp glue gun with adult supervision)

Gemstones

It will be easier to do this project using the low-temp glue gun but if children are working on this alone I would suggest the tacky glue. First create a loop with the ribbon and glue it to the front of one CD and now glue the other CD on top with the front facing down, you want the silver shiny side to be facing out on both sides and the loop to be poking out the top.

Now attach the gemstones in any pattern you wish creating a fun design. You can decorate one side or both if you wish, if you are using tacky glue and want to decorate both sides, wait for the first side to dry before working on the other.

After all the glue has dried, hang your ornament somewhere for everyone to enjoy!