by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
I tend to get a lot of CD/DVD jewel cases with press information and other such stuff from trade fairs and as the CDs/DVDs become useless once that data has been extracted from them I turn the latter into coasters and sun catchers while the cases get upcycled for other uses.
One of them is as a holder for a special calendars that just fits into the case, which the case folded backward to create a holder. This makes a great desk accessory.
The calendars for this purpose you can find – around Christmas time but sometime all year round – on the websites of a variety of companies, such as especially Canon Creative Park (http://cp.c-ij.com/en/) and all you have to do is print and cut them too size and you have a month-by-month calendar for free.
The same way of turning such cases into a holder is also most useful for the kitchen in order to hold up recipe cards while you prepare your meal.
Furthermore you could keep one in your car, if you are a driver, to store away your auto insurance, registration and other important papers. Though you should not, in my view, leave the case with the documents in the car overnight.
The same stand, as earlier mentioned for the calendar and the recipe card can also be used to make a photo frame out of such a jewel case. Just fold back, put in photo and stand up on desk.
As not all of jewel cases work with the fold back principle some will remain that you cannot upcycle in that way or any other really.
So, those that cannot be thus dealt with, put on Freecycle or Craigslist, or on other forums, for a small upstart bands and music artists to use to package their demo CDs or album releases.
This way you rid yourself of the cases that you cannot use or upcycle and someone else does not have to fork out lots to get some. A total win-win situation.
© 2009
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