CD Crafts

Make a Clock - At many craft stores, you can by a clock
movement that will fit right in the hole in the center. Paint a
few numbers on the shiny side and you've got a fairly
inexpensive clock.

Make a Holiday Tree - Save a bunch of them and towards
the year-end holiday season you can hot glue them together
to form a triangle with about five or six across at the bottom.
Insert flashing holiday lights and you have an instant holiday
tree with the shiny CD surface acting like a big reflector.
Great gift item to give from a den to a retirement home or to
add to a church's festive decorations.

Make a Pyramid - On the other hand, if you have loads of
them, you could do three of them and make a pyramid with
flashing lights on all three sides. Don't know what you'd use
it for, but I suspect somebody imaginative can come up with
a use. ;-)

Orienteering - Use 'em for a set of trail markers or
orienteering checkpoints - portable and reusable. Just paint
them different colors. Collect them when you are done and
use them again.

Relay Race - Quick game - have a rolling contest to see who
can roll one the farthest on its edge.

Trail Lights - Use the CDs for trail lights at night. Fill a
number ten can about a third full of water. Put a candle
through the hole in the CD. Place the CD/candle on the
surface of the water inside the can. Light candle. When
done blow out the candle and turn it upside down.
Night Trail Markers. Paint the outside edge about an inch all
the way around with a color to denote the trail. Place each
CD on the ground within view of the next. Scouts with a
flashlight aimed downward see the bright reflection from the
shiny side (unpainted area).

Toss in the Bucket Game. Mark a line. Place a wash
bucket or wastebasket at a reasonable distance. Have Scouts
try to fling the CD into the bucket for points.
Use the CDs for signaling (the same way you used to use
mirrors)

Tent Markers. Each Scout's first name is on a CD. Run
twine through the hole and hang it from the tent pole. Is said to help
Scout remember which tent is home for a week at camp.
Cowboy Hat Decorations. Cut off the bottom half of the medium
paper cup. Invert and tape to the center of the CD. Paint light
brown with dark brown hatband from ribbon glued on.
Instant wild west memento.

Safety kit. One disposable luminescent tube and CD for
each family car. You can buy the tubes at camping and auto
stores. When you bend the tube the glass inside breaks and
the chemical reaction produces light. By inserting the tube
through the CD, you get a reflective surface making it easier
to see the light. Apparently, you can also take this idea a
little farther - leave a few inches of the tube on one side and
put that and the edge of the CD on the ground pointed where
you want people to see it. Put several of these on the sides
of a trail from a campfire area at camp leading toward the
parking lot for visitors to help them find their way back to
their cars. Another use is as an ornamental sun-catcher. Use
silicone sealer to glue two of them together and label to label.
Drill a small hole near the rim and suspend with string.

Pinewood Derby Centerpiece. Run short sections of
dowel through two evenly spaced CDs to form an axle and
wheelsets.
Use cardboard and masking tape to form the body of the car
(use your imagination). Decide what shape you want and
make a template for the side of each car. Cut out separate
pieces for the sides. Cut out pieces for the front, hood, seat
area, and back. Tape together. Spray paint the wheels black
before assembly. Spray paint the body red, yellow, or
whatever before assembly. Sit the body on the dowels and
you have a very large "derby car" centerpiece. An additional
suggestion is to paint several cars blue and several gold cars.
Use them for Blue & Gold table centerpieces. How's that for
a very cheap project?

CD Farm Animals -
Materials: Old CDs, felt or foam board, thin cardboard,

markers, glue, scissors.

Cover CD with appropriate color felt for the animal to be made.
Cut out the head, ears, and legs for the animal and glue them to thin
cardboard and then to the CD. Decorate with markers

 

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