During a move a couple of years back I found myself packing up hundreds and hundreds of CD cases. The numbers were staggering, but their sheer volume, once in front of my face, was hard to handle. After I'd filled a box (or three) I started to doubt the sanity of packing and moving the insane collection into my new home. So, I decided to toss the cases. One by one, I packed my discs into humongous CD binders. In no time I had condensed the size of my music collection by 3/4. Though I was relieved to see my burden shrunk, I felt a pang of sadness at letting go of the cases for all of my favorite albums. How many countless hours had I spent pouring over each and every one of those liner notes? I knew and loved each one. How could I just chuck them into the garbage bin?
Being crafty, my mind fashioned a strange compromise. I pulled the liner notes from the CD cases and stashed them away in a plastic bag in anticipation for the day that I figured out how to make something creative with them. I used the stash as a sort of paper buffet for some time. I used the pictures and text inside the liner notes to make buttons, magnets, and collages, but it wasn't until much later that I came up with the greatest use for my old CD books ever, the Album Bouquet! One day I got my hands on a flower shaped paper punch, some beads, and a spool of floral wire and it all came together. Here's what I made:
Here's how you make them. You'll need:
- CD Liner Notes
- A Flower Shaped Paper Punch
- A Mini Hole Punch (1/8 inch)
- Floral Wire
- Medium Sized Seed Beads
- Double Sided Tape
- Floral Tape
Directions:
- Start by carefully removing the cover of the album and setting it aside. This will be used as the vase, or wrapper for your bouquet.
- Cut the remainder of the liner into strips that are just a little wider than your flower shaped punch.
- Punch as many flowers as you can from the liner, then put them together into pairs of two.
- Now punch two tiny holes into the middle of each pair of flowers using your 1/8 inch hole punch.
- Cut several 5 inch lengths of floral wire.
- Line up a pair of flowers so that the holes in the middle align, then carefully thread a piece of wire through one of the holes.
- Slip a bead onto the wire, then thread about 1 inch of the wire through the other hole in the flower so that the two ends of the wire are underneath the flower. Carefully twist the two ends together.
- Repeat the last two steps until you have tons of flowers.
- Arrange the flowers into a pretty bunch, then secure the stems together using floral tape.
- Roll the album cover into a cone and secure it from the inside with a piece of double sided tape. Curl the edges on the outside cover down a little to make it extra pretty.
- Place your bouquet of flowers into the wrapper and present it to your favorite music lover.
If you are wondering what to do with the empty jewel cases themselves, you will be happy to learn that they can be recycled. However, your local recycling center is unlikely to take them, as they are made of a material that is notoriously difficult to recycle. But fear not, the internet has come to the rescue. Visit GreenDisk.com to learn how you can have your cases ethically disposed of. Or, if you are feeling crafty, check out the Top 14 Ways to Reuse Unwanted Jewel Cases. Yet another option is to call up your local used CD store to see if they'd like to take your cases. Second hand music stores are often in need of extra jewel cases, so your local shop may be happy to take them off your hands.