Upcycled Life: Mini-house cloche made from CD jewel cases

Somehow, even though many of us don’t use CDs anymore, the cases still clutter our houses. You can transform those old CD jewel cases into a tiny, house-shaped cloche.

Start by removing the plastic piece that holds the CD by pulling on the edge and prying it out by hand. Prepare five cases this way, and keep the back paper from one case to use as a pattern.

Open two cases and set them together on their sides at 90-degree angles, making a cube shape. This is the base of the house. Use E6000 or similar clear adhesive to glue together the sides.

Pull two cases apart where they hinge and cut off the sides with a box knife so you have two flat pieces of plastic.

Open another case, place it on its side on top of the reserved paper with the hinge at the top and the open end at the bottom edge of the paper. The hinge will hang off the paper slightly. Trace the pitch of the roof on to the paper. This is your pattern for cutting the side pieces of the roof.

Place one of the flat pieces you prepared on top of the pattern, and use a ruler and box knife to cut the plastic into a triangular shape. Glue the triangular piece onto the sides of an open case, making a peaked roof. When the adhesive has set, glue the roof onto the base. Now you have a mini cloche.