VALENTINES FOR LOVED ONES WITH CD DISCS

 How to make  special hand-made gifts for your loved ones using old CDs. This novel gift
is easy to construct in one night and is eye-catching too. You can vary the construction  and make beautiful sun-catchers of them or add pictures to the image cut-outs.             

 A brief introduction.
CDs - 5-1/4 inch disc used to convey  information. Then lay it aside for a few years then toss it out.
These are the discs you need to re-cycle . Here  you need to know a few tid-bits  about the construction of these plastic dishes.  They come in two types - High quality and economical low quality  types. The high quality types are those that have movies , etc. on them. Low quality types are those used to burn a disc on your computer. They are easily scratched and the aluminum reflective surface is vulnerable to flaking when cut with scissors. To get around this problem you need to heat or warm the disc  to easily cut it with your scissors. I use my space heater. Hair dryers also will do to pre-heat the disc up. Heat  it till it is quite warm for easy cutting. 

 Materials
scissors- short length  is best.
discs
ink pen-perm
various color pens for adding info to the surfaces if you want.
glue- can be silicone adhesive or Goop[R]  which is fast drying.
nylon fishing cord  of about 5 lb. strength [very thin but strong] Any craft store.
drill 1/16 size .
diagrams, pictures of loved ones, etc.

Construction-
Draw a heart outline . Use the picture if you dont have any drawings. Test the disc to see if it can be cut without pre-heating it. Use a small cut at an edge. If it looks  difficult -pre-heat it  to about 120F or almost too hot to hold. Cut while hot.  If  the edges crack you need more heat. Practise on a spare disc.
     If you want the front  and back to be reflective cut another heart out and using a spot of goop glue adhere them together back to back. Also while doing this stich an end of the nylon  string  between the discs as an anchor. You can use a drilled hole also at the top for the string.