Upcycle them into art!
After doing the Marie Kondo purge throughout the house (don’t ask about the shed; she didn’t address those) I had a pile of really old or damaged DVDs and CDs, including obsolete technical ones. Naturally I gave the usable ones to the thrift store, but what about the others? I checked our local recycle guide. Nope, they didn’t take them. What? The only recycling place was across country. Pay shipping for old CDs to get recycled? Um … pondering.
So I did an internet search and found that people were creating art with them, so I followed their example. (See my Pinterest page here for more ideas.) Here’s what I did. Hope it passes on the inspiration to you!
Turns out they are actually fun to paint. When I was done, I was sorry I didn’t have more. I made mine into an indoor wall hanging, but I could see using them as garden art, an indoor room divider, maybe hang some in the cherry and mulberry trees in the garden — to see if the sun reflections off the shiny sides would scare the birds away (I doubt it, but it would be pretty). Might be neat to create a night-time reflection garden: hang them around an area, and let them twinkle the reflections of the moon, your porch light, or LED holiday lights. Maybe it would deter deer in the garden? If you try this, let me know how it goes.
Update: I’ve added the paints I used in response to questions:
Since I had some Golden brand artist paints on hand for canvas painting, that’s what I used. (Just the regular Golden paint, not the Golden Open–which has a longer drying time). For a more budget-friendly option, you could use Liquitex Basics. If you don’t have an art store near you, you can order online from Blick Art Materials.
I use art paints for lots of things besides canvas painting, like indoor wall murals or various crafts. I prefer acrylics because they are water soluble. For good tips on clean-up, see the Golden site here.
The backs of the CD’s and DVD’s can be painted too or left shiny.
To join them together, drill a very small hole on each end, or four evenly distanced holes if you want to hook them all together as I did. You can drill through several at once to match the holes. Then, affix together with some copper wire. Use needle nose pliers to curl the ends of the wire in cute shapes if you like, like curlicues, a flower design, or maybe string a bead or two on the ends of the wire. You could also just affix the CDs with wire through the center holes, but I didn’t want to use that much wire on mine.
Have fun! Send me your photos! Would love to see what you do with yours!
Go to the home page of The-Compulsive-Gardener here
What kind of paint did you use?
Hi Becky! Good question, I should edit that into the post. Since I have Golden brand acrylic artist paints for canvas painting, that is what I used. I didn’t use any primer, but these were for indoors. It’s been many years and they are holding up fine. Cheaper artists paints, like those made for students, could be used for a lower cost. Let me know if you do a fun project with yours!