Anyone who was around in the 90s and beyond will remember those pesky AOL CDs. They seemed to turn everywhere including your mailbox, in cereal boxes, on your meal tray during a flight, and even at sporting events like the Superbowl and NASCAR races.
These CDs have even become collector’s items with enthusiastic collectors paying hundreds of dollars for some rarer ones. However, for most people, these CDs were simply a nuisance and you might even still have a collection of them cluttering up your bottom drawer.
If you do happen to have some of those old AOL CDs, here are some clever ways that you can put them to good use and keep them out of landfill.
1. Create A Mosaic Birdbath
For anyone who is crafty, old CDs are ideal for making mosaics. Mosaics can be used to decorate photo and mirror frames, to make interesting coasters and placements, or even to bring new life to the bowl of a birdbath.
In fact, anything that has a fairly flat surface can have mosaics applied to it. Items such as jewelry boxes, flower pots, coffee and side tables, and even guitars have been transformed using mosaics made from old CDs.
All you have to do is cut the CDs into pieces and then glue these randomly onto the surface of the birdbath. Once you’ve completed gluing on all the pieces, just cover them with a clear sealant and your birdbath will have a new lease on life.
2. Make Your Own Shiny Christmas Ornaments
In the same vein as using mosaics to adorn a bird bath, you can use cut-up CDs to decorate clear plastic Christmas baubles. Just cut up the CDs and glue the pieces around the bauble to make pretty reflective ornaments that will change color depending on the light.
3. Make A Pretty Tissue Box Cover
With this idea, you want to cut the CDs into small squares that you then glue onto the sides and top of a normal tissue box for a pretty and distinctive look. Remember to use a clear sealer once you’ve glued all the pieces onto the box.
4. Turn Those CDs Into Pretty Drink Coasters
This is a simple project that anyone can do. All you need is a handful of CDs, some pretty contact and a pair of craft scissors. Cut the contact into squares that are just slightly larger than the CDs.
Remove the backing from the contact and stick it onto the CDs taking care to smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles. Then, take your craft scissors and trim away the excess contact right around the edge of each CD.
5. Make Your Own Disco Ball
This could also be used to make funky decorations for your Christmas tree. What you need is a large Styrofoam ball and a collection of CDs. Cut the CDs into squares and glue these onto the Styrofoam ball in rows.
Using a hot glue gun will make the task quicker and easier. Then, seal the whole thing with a clear sealer. Glue a hanger or curtain ring into the top of the ball and attach some thin wire or twine to hang it up.
6. Make Some Lovely Wind Chimes With A Coffee Can And Some CDs
This is a great project that you can even do with the kids. The only tools that you need are a hole punch. You then use sharpies to decorate the CDs and the coffee can and then string the whole thing together with a fishing line.
Here’s the complete tutorial if you’d like to give this a try yourself.
7. Make A Funky Clock
Making clocks seems to be a popular way of re-purposing old CDs. This particular design uses an old CD, some glass stones, and glass paints. You can also get clock kits that include the mechanism and the hands.
You can watch the entire tutorial for this attractive clock on YouTube.
8. Create Your Own Sun Catchers
Old CDs make brilliant sun catchers thanks to the way they glimmer and shine in the light. You can use your imagination and decorate your sun catchers any way you want using crystals, colored beads, and thin bits of chain, or even fishing lines to hang them up.
9. Make Cute Tealight Holders
An interesting project that you might want to try is to make your own tealight holders using old CDs. The idea with these is that you place two CDs together, center them over a can or jar, and then bake them in the oven.
The heat of the oven will fuse the two CDs together and the edges will soften down over the can or jar. Once you’ve created the shape of your votive, you can decorate it in any way you like.
Here’s an easy-to-follow tutorial that gives you the exact steps to follow.
Final Thoughts
You now have some creative ideas on what you can do with all those pesky AOL CDs that are clogging up your bottom drawer. So, grab them out of the drawer and give them a new purpose in life.