20+ Brilliant DIY Ideas To Recycle Your Old CDs

DIY and Crafts

Old CD Decoration And Craft Ideas

Published on July 22, 2017

Transform old CDs into stunning decorative pieces with our inspiring craft ideas for unique and eco-friendly home decor.

In many households, old CDs are often tossed out in the bin when they serve no purpose anymore. This adds to unnecessary waste which can be controlled otherwise. As music doesn’t play anymore, we can use our creativity to make many things out of the CDs. It can be anything ranging from making shells, tiny bugs and decorating them with glitter. It can also be in the form of recreating our favourite cartoon characters through these crafts. Considering the importance of reuse, reduce, recycle, there is absolutely no harm in trying new things. We can get totally creative with customizing CDs, and there is no specific age barrier to who can enjoy such activities.

DIY Ideas To Recycle Your Old CDs

Pretty Concentric CD Rings

Concentric circles can be a great idea which can be made from spare old CDs to make use of them. This idea is particularly attractive as the concentric pattern allows the user to experiment with as many colour combinations and patterns as possible. And clumping many such CD rings together makes for quite a colourful capture.

Ladybug Beetles

Beetles in nature are one of the most colourful things ever seen, with their vibrant red and orange hues. Being dotted with black small spots adds to their natural charm. Here we thus see in this picture that CDs are covered up with craft papers in the form of beetles and bugs. There are google eyes added to the top to add to the quirkiness.

CD Candle Stand for Diwali

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights is coming. To celebrate the spirit of the festival or to add some sparkle to the home in general, we can curate old CDs and customize them with glitter sequins. Then we can keep them as decorations or use them to hold candles, which utilized the CDs in a creative way as well.

Faux Ice Cream Cones From CDs

Here are a few pastel ice cream cones which are, surprisingly, made from recycled CDs. But they do not seem so, because these are really prettily made. Making such craft items can be great pastime for kids in vacations. This will make sure that new skills are picked up, old recyclable substances are used up, and time is enjoyed productively.

Using CDs to Make Creatures

Creativity can be set free with brilliant ideas of customizing a CD, as we can see here a mini robotic creature simulated by and old discarded CD player. The vibrant colour combination catches the eye easily, with the springs for legs, clips for hands tick off the box of quirkiness. Both eyes of two different colours, we love this tiny robot.

Donuts Made From CDs

The pastel bright hues of the donuts plays really well with the base which consists of peach pink coloured CDs. The mint green, mustard yellow, baby pink and purple “donuts” are pretty and look ready to be hung anywhere, in homes or classrooms alike. The customization with stones and sequins make it even the more attractive to the eyes of the observer.

A little Pink Fish From CD

This one example above is quite cool, where we can see a CD being customized to be a pretty pink fish. This craft is doubly creative and useful as it utilizes not only throwaway CDs, but also tissue paper, thus saving the environment. The beads for eyes adds a lively dimension to the craft itself. This can be curated by kids to learn about making use of waste products to save the environment.

A Monster Made From CDs And Paper

Here the play of the colours red, black and white is pretty cool to look at, as we see an expressive monster staring back at us. Creating this piece seems like a really fun thing to do, especially when bored at home. This can be a great pastime for anyone who is up to having some good ol’ time. Looking back at the finished piece would definitely bring a smile to the person’s face.

Holographic Rainbow CD Projector

White screens can be used for several creative purposes, and projection is one of them. Thus a discarded CD is used for its holographic, reflective characteristic. The impression of a rainbow on the white screen has the power to brighten up the gloomiest of days ever. This idea is hence a great way to make use of throwaway items.

Olaf The “CD” Snowman

Those who have seen the Frozen series must remember how adorable our snowy friend Olaf was. To celebrate his kindred spirit, we can pay him a little tribute such as this CD curated with silvery white glitters, complete with facial features such as nose, eyes, mouth and even strands of hair above the head.

CD Wall Hanging/installations

This installation is wonderfully artistic, boasting of vibrant reds, golden yellows as the majority of the colour palette. This piece stands bright against the dark green background of the wall, the contrast making it an absolute head turner. The thin lining of green glitter adds the icing on the already rich “CD” cake.

CD And Hand Measurement Cutout Peacock

Peacocks can be great to experiment with while making crafts, thanks to their vibrant natural hues. The holographic nature of CDs plays into it really well, so this craft is genius. The factor of hand measurements to simulate the gorgeous tail of the a peacock adds a unique dimension. Cool, isn’t it?

A Planet With a Ring

We know about the planets in out solar system with majestic rings around them, especially Saturn. This installation reminds us exactly of that. Here we see a CD with two hemispheres sandwiching it, resembling a planet with a ring. This project can be ideal to teach kids about the solar system, its planets and their structures. The colours on this piece are breathtaking too!

CD Wall Hanging Patterns

Two CDs painted black with sporadic glitter patterns are hanging on the wall here in this particular example above. This one is pretty simplistic, yet doesn’t fail to catch the eye.

Musical Clock With a CD

Here we have a CD pasted on another large disk which has a key musical instrument drawn on it. This piece plays with tones of grey and silver as main colours. The musical notes etched on the top half of the piece make it a brilliant idea for a gift to a music lover.

A Snail From a CD

The shell of snails can be made by CDs, as seen here in this above example of creating a craft snail from a CD. This can be a great pastime for kids aged 7-11 years, as it also helps to learn the anatomy of snails.

Two Spiders From CDs

Spiders are usually scary, but hey, there’s no harm if we make fake ones at home for fun, right? Here in this example in the picture above, we can see two cute spideys with their usual eight legs, and eye-like structures at the top to ass to the charm. Normal spiders might be a no-no, but these customized ones are here to stay.

Another Snail From a CD

Here we can se another cute snail made from a CD. This one is relatively much simple with plain but pretty concentric circles drawn on it. The beady eyes, the fluffy antennae and the smiley face drawn make it all the more adorable to be stuck on a wall or pasted into a scrapbook.

Hearts of Red And Gold

in the piece above, we see the alternating glittery patterns of the colours red and gold. The red heart is sandwiched between the golden disk with black glittery patterns adorning the whole thing. The contrast between the colours plays really well, while the golden gem heart at the centre steals the spotlight.

CD Toy Kitchen Set

Here a toy casserole is placed atop a toy stove, where the burners are made by old discarded CDs. This can be used by kids to know about the uses of a kitchen without having to face the risks of going near an actual one. As many toy utensils can be seen at the back, this one can serve as a great plaything!

Vibrant Hanging Decorating Disks

CDs can be coloured with sketch markers and hung from above as decorations anywhere wanted. The metallic nature will make the CDs shine when light reflects upon them. The translucent colours imparted to the CDs by the sketch pens makes that possible.

CD Toy Clock With Stand

Above we saw so many various examples where CDs were used to make cute and creative things, and we saw a clock too. The concept of a clock returns here again with two hands, resembling hour and minute respectively. This project can teach kids in the ages 6 and above the workings and hands of a clock.

Crystal Sequin Decorations on a CD

How pretty is this decoration out of 10? One cannot simply take their eyes away from this marvellous creation. The flowery sequins with glorious pink, golden and silver hues stuck on the CD make this piece gorgeous. It is the versatility for this one.

This post may have encouraged you a little bit to think before tossing out old CDs into the trash, as we saw the number of pretty and creative projects that would be made with them if we choose to be more considerate of the environment. Ranging from snails, rainbow projectors, planets, and simple wall hangings to just plain decorations of the CDs, there can be so many ways we can customize these throwaway items instead of simply discarding them.

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