Rainbow Display Cubes!

In this Instructable, you will be learning how to make a beautiful colorful 3D decoration out of old CD cases.

This decoration is modular (it's made out of a lot of cubes), allowing rearrangement and rotation to create your own unique design. The translucent panels allow light to shine through, making it look great placed next to a window!

But wait, there's more! The cube shape allows it to be used as a storage shelf as well, or even a colorful lamp!

• CD disc cases
• Epoxy resin and resin color pigments
• Craft sticks/ something you can use to stir and then throw away
• Plastic/latex gloves
• 5.5”x5.5”x1” silicon mold
• Acrylic sheet (we used 24’x18” ones, you can use an appropriate size for the number of cubes you are going to make and your design)
• Plastic tray (working area that is fine with being dirty)
• Self adhesive acrylic panels holders: 1" L x 0.5" H with a base of 0.5" W.
• Lights for display (any work, optional)

For each CD case, open the case to a right angle, then take off the transparent front cover. Do this for all the CD cases you plan to use.

Connect two pieces by aligning the sockets (semi-circles) from two squares as shown and attaching them correspondingly. Sometimes the case divider might be too high for them to connect. If this happens, use the craft knife to cut-off some of the divider on the case as needed. 

Connect 2 other cases (4 in total) to form a cube with two opposite sides missing (like top and bottom).

Mix the resin according to the instructions. Pour into separate cups (1 for each color) and color as desired.

Then, place a cube on something that you can get dirty, like a plastic tray. With your hand on the inside of the cube, pour the resin colors you chose onto the bottom square. Tilt the cube in all directions a little to spread the resin around, using a craft stick if necessary to reach the corners.

You will only be able to work with one square of each cube, each day.

Tips & Warnings:

• USE PLASTIC/LATEX GLOVES! Resin is very sticky and you don't want it on your hands.
• For our resin, we mixed a 1:1 ratio of resin and hardener and stirred for 3 minutes before pouring into several cups. Yours may be different.
• You can use the same stick for multiple similar colors (e.g. orange and yellow, or purple and black), but don't use the same stick for, say, orange and blue.
• Don't pour too much resin on. It may be a bit viscous, but it will spread.

Resin serves as a colorful decoration while also securing the sides together.

Wait a few days for the resin to harden. Carefully remove the cubes from the mat and cut off any resin puddles that might have spilled out as a result of too much resin. You can reuse the resin scraps by attaching them to a square with colored resin.

Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the sides of each cube are covered. Experiment with different designs! Here, we have reused the resin scraps of the previous days to create smooth curves.

Pour clear epoxy resin into the 5.5”x5.5”x1” mold, then lay the cube with open end into the mold.

Assemble with acrylic panel holders.