How to Make Pendants and Charms From Old CDs

I had this idea when I was looking for a way to make a Chocobo Dungeon inspired pendant. As some of you may know, Chocobo has a shiny, multicolored puzzle piece on it's bag. I figured it would be a nice way to re-use a scratched or obsolete CD and I made three different shapes of pendants for jewelry, keychains, bag/cell phone charms.

For this you will need...

Old CD's
A sharpie
A dremmel kit with different bits
Protective glasses and gloves
A beading, wiring kit

This is a very messy project, so I suggest you work outside or in a workshop. Hot pieces of plastic fly away a lot while carving the shapes, so you will REALLY need gloves and glasses.

Also, I noticed that different brands and types of CD's / DVD's react differently to the carving tools. Some of them lost their backing, or separated in two differents layers. Make more pieces than you need and expect some of them not to come out the way you want them to.

To choose the perfect shape to make a pendant, think stencil. Choose an image that doesn't have any unattached, loose parts. Unless you are much more skilled than me with the power tools, try to choose  one that is not too small or detailed.

I printed my images and cut around them, then stenciled them unto the CD's.

I don't have many pictures of how I cut them, because, again, I only have two hands.

I started by using a big bit, and making an approximative cut around the shape. Once the piece got separated from the CD, I used the same bit to smooth the contour of the shape.

I then switched to a smaller, drill type bit. I used it to mark the details (eyes and mouth of the hello kitty, smaller grooves in the dragonfly's wings, and make the pendant holes.)

I chose a top shaped bit to smooth the edges of the shape even more, and remove the bits of melted plastic that remained on the edges.

This was mostly a trial and error method, since I had never used a Dremmel before. This was quite an easy project, and I am sure that if you prepare a couple of extra pieces to practice on, you will find a technique that will work perfectly for you.

I am still looking for a way to put a finish on the back of the CD to prevent the multicoloured backing from chipping away with wear. Feel free to give me ideas!

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed !

Well sorry about the poor quality of the finished product pictures, but they are really hard to capture properly because of the glare.