DIY: Melted CD Earrings

My friend told me about a guy she used to know that melted CDs and turned them into cool earrings. I got inspired, and I gave the internets a quick surfing. I found this post, and I thought, "Obviously I can do this, and it will be way cool."

Necessary Supplies:

• CDs. I personally used one I had labelled "vareity mix" from when I was like twelve. 
• Something to cut your CD up with.
• A pot for boiling water (optional).
• Oven or toaster oven to melt your earrings in.
• Parchment paper or similar to set the earrings on while they are melting.
• Earring wires. 

The Process:

I started trying to cut up a CD with some old garden shears. It turns out, it's really hard to do. I called Karen and asked for her expert advice, and she said she'd seen people on Pinterest boil CDs before trying to cut them, so I tried that.

Boil, my pretties!

Unfortunately, my experience was that boiling the CDs made no difference in cutting ease. Maybe try something more effective than garden shears.

After cutting them out, I put the pieces together in cool shapes on my parchment-lined cookie sheet and popped them in the toaster oven at a blazing 450 degrees.

They melted fantastically. What I didn't properly anticipate was the difficulty in getting the earring wire hook things in there. What I ended up doing was taking them out and trying to drill holes into them with the wires, the earrings cooling to much, and putting them back in like twenty or so times. Oh, and I burned my fingers. Like, many times. 

The Results:

I'm happy with how they turned out. They're cool. But I really didn't love the experience, and I don't have any plans to try it again. But if you're a fan of melting stuff and sticking wires into it, this is totally the project for you!

Also, melting plastic probably releases toxic fumes, so yeah. Make your choices.