A Clever Mini Greenhouse With Upcycled CD Cases DIY

Those of you that have a green thumb will appreciate this project.  This DIY greenhouse made from CD cases will help protect your plants from harsh weather and save the enviroment.  We get a lot of hail in the spring and summer so these greenhouses would make for great protection.  They would also come in handy during a fall freeze.  Thanks Mega Crafty for the idea.

I originally made this greenhouse last year. But thought I’d repost it because spring is right around the corner and this little greenhouse would make the perfect place to start seeds or showcase some spring bulbs that still need a little extra protection from the cold. Plus earth day is coming up and it’s a great reuse project for old CD cases!

The tutorial is pretty long… but don’t get scared off because the greenhouse really isn’t difficult to make. There are lots of details I wanted to be sure were explained clearly. To do that I had to break this down into a bunch of steps and include a lot of pictures. The toughest part about the whole project is cutting the cases into angles- and even that’s not really hard to do, it just takes some patience. The rest of the project is just gluing!

Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• Old CD Cases- it takes 40 to make a greenhouse this size (about 11″x 18″ x 20″) but you’ll also want some extras in case a few break while being cut (I broke 2).
• Plastic Glue- that dries clear.
• Painter’s Tape
• Safety Glasses
• Tweezers
• You’ll also need a craft knife, ruler and cutting board, and a large flat surface (that can get a bit of glue on it) for the cases to lay on while drying.

Step 1: Preparing The Cases

Start with clean cd cases. More than a few of mine needed a bit of dusting off and some old price tags removed. Since most of my cases also had black plastic disc holders in them, and I only needed the clear parts of the cases, I removed and discarded the black plastic. When you remove the disc holders you’ll notice it leaves an open space near the hinge. I’ll talk more about this in Step 2, I just wanted to point out that this is normal and nothing to worry about.

I also came across a few cases that had clear disc holders. The circular pattern reminded me of the fans you see in large greenhouses so I left those whole and used one on either end in the center of the wall’s peak.