It’s the 3rd day of the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, and what have I made for you today, my crafty friends? I love to find new uses for old items, and one of the things I have a lot of are plastic CD/DVD jewel cases. It turns out they make great easel style frames for artwork. Using Craft Attitude printable film, I applied an image to the jewel cases, and voila, instant art. For this project, I created alphabet letter artwork spelling out the word “JOY.” The great thing about the Craft Attitude is that it’s translucent, so when I put an LED candle behind the artwork, it glowed. This would look great on a mantel or a table on an entryway. 
For a great gift, you can also put photos on the CD cases with the Craft Attitude film. Here are photos of my dogs Gershwin and Fosse on the CD cases. LED candles would light up their cute faces, too.
Before I go through the super easy tutorial on this, let me talk about Craft Attitude, because it’s a new product and not a lot of people know about it yet.
Each pack comes with eight sheets of Craft Attitude (I am going to just call it Craft Attitude rather than calling it by the individual brand names.) You put in in your inkjet printer at home. Then you print out any image you want – photographs, stock illustrations, you name it – onto the Craft Attitude sheet. The sheet consists of a very thin film, or skin, and a protective backing sheet that lets you feed it through the printer. After you’ve printed your design, you peel off the film from the backing and apply it to practically any surface – wood, paper, metal, fabric – with a glue stick or spray adhesive. But lo and behold, for this project, it doesn’t even need adhesive because the Craft Attitude sticks to the plastic CD cases with static alone. Gotta love that!
Step 1: First, I created the graphics. I found an images of some blurred colored lights on publicdomainpictures.net, sized them to the dimensions of a CD jewel case, and added an initial on top using Photoshop. Below are the free printables that you can download of this artwork. Just click the names of the files. You’ll notice that I made the J backwards. That’s because you always want to print in reverse on Craft Attitude, because you’ll be flipping the image over later.
Then I printed the artwork on 3 sheets of Craft Attitude and trimmed the artwork with a craft knife.
Step 2: I disassembled the CD cases to remove the existing artwork, as well as the center panel that has the doohickey to hold the CD. It snaps right off, so don’t be afraid to show it who’s boss. Then I put the CD case back together again.
Step 3: Like I said, I didn’t need to apply any adhesive on the Craft Attitude because it sticks to the plastic with static. It is a little challenging at first to get it on without air bubbles. What I did was just get it on, not worrying about the air bubbles. Then I just lifted it up where there were bubbles and smoothed it out with my fingers. Hint: If you start in the middle and work outwards, it’s easier. 
Step 4: Open the CD case and stand it up like an easel. Place an LED candle behind the image so it illuminates. Because the image is on the plastic with static, you can switch out your message or image for every occasion. Sometimes you can spell out words. Sometimes you can just display photos. It’s just a really cool way to make easel frames. 
Now be sure to enter to win the Handmade Holidays prize package.
And hop on over to the other projects on today’s blog hop.
What a great idea!
Wow…best upcycle decoration idea I’ve seen. Thanks.
Thanks for the idea, I am gonna try it…
Love it!
Great way to use the CD cases!
Wow…surprisingly attractive for an old jewel case!
<3 J
jwoolbright at gmail dot com
So clever and pretty.
isoscia at aol dot com
Great idea! Thanks 🙂
Jonathan, this might be my favorite project yet! Love it!
going to put words on each side of the case and use it for my table runner centerpiece – what a “bright” idea !
Very neat idea! I love how the candles light up the images.
AND I JUST THREW AWAY A BUNCH OF THESE. GREAT PROJECT.
what a fabulous idea! Love recycling and this is wonderful!
thanks for such a great idea. Love the lit JOY and now I’ll have a place to put Bear’s picture.
such a great idea! t.igo
Tis is a very clever idea!
Lovely Idea! I’ve got to try this one!
How stinkin’ cool are these! Awesome and I will be doing this! Thank you for the fab inspiration 🙂
How cute thanks for sharing.
That is so cool!! I love the idea of being able to change out the image to match the season or just display a photo. Thanks so much for sharing.
racincrafts at aim dot com
racincrafts.blospot.com
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool! I have so many of these and lots of ideas now on how to repurpose them! Glad I have some Craft Attitude on hand so I can get started asap! Thanks or the inspiration!
Super cute ideas!
When I first saw the illuminated letters I was surprised they were in CD cases. What a wonderful idea. I love the idea. I never knew about the craft attitude but it sure is a great product to have. Thank you so much for sharing such great ideas.
New easy and too crafty!!!
I loved the idea on today’s Blog hop for the holiday decoration and then the photo frame idea for all year long. I have a box full on empty CD cases and now I have great inspiration as well.
How creative. I’d love to make these
A CD case! How clever!
Neat! Great inspiration!
Wow – wonderful idea!!
W O W! These are sooo cute!
What a fabulous idea!
What a cool project! I will have to try this for sure.
Wonderful!!! I love this idea! Using CD holders for frames! Thanks for sharing.
Great upcycle idea and oh so pretty. TFS!
Great Idea
This is so brilliant!!! Would love to create one of these!
Love these cute ideas!
This idea is excellent, i am also try these includes some arts on that cd by using Instant Adhesive Glue
Now you’ve done it. I have to go out and get some craft attitude and try this awesome project! Can’t wait!
Thanks Jane! You’ll have fun making them.
What a fabulous idea! Would this work if I printed on a transparency?
Yes, however, Craft Attitude is a thin film that sticks to the jewel cases without an adhesive. You’d probably need more of an adhesive with the transparencies.
lovely, elegant craft! thanks for sharing your ideas