DIY Mickey Mosaic Treetopper

Hi DFLovers! I am back with a fun and simple tutorial! This year I decided to go with a Winter Wonderland tree and I was unsure of what I wanted to do for the tree topper. Since I didn't have any hidden Mickey's in my tree, I decided that the tree topper had to be a Mickey. I was hanging out in my sisters room when I noticed her mosaic candle holder and a light bulb went off. I thought, "how cool would a mosaic tree topper be." This was extra perfect because the glass effect totally fit my Winter Wonderland theme. So now it was time for finding my supplies and keeping it budget friendly.

I used to be in a Fashion Design class in college and I used this technique twice for a window displays and avantgarde dress I created. Since cds are basically obsolete, destroying some old cds wasn't that big of an issue. Another option is going to a thrift shop to purchase cd's if you have a hard time letting go. I'll admit, I kept my Spice Girls cd for a rainy day..

The items used were a mix of things that you could find around the house and maybe a stop at your Dollar Tree. I was a little excited to start this DIY, that I actually just purchased these styrofoam balls at Hobby Lobby. I probably could have saved a bunch of money going elsewhere. My advice, save a few bucks and go to your local discount store!

Alright, that's enough talk. Let's get started with this simple DIY. Here's what you need:

• 3 Styrofoam balls (1 size for the ears and another size for the head)
• Optional: styrofoam rings (2 pack) or a toilet paper roll
• Old cd's preferably legit CD's from artists and not the copy CD's
• Hot glue gun
• Foil
• Toothpicks
• Scissors

First things first, you need some styrofoam balls. Try and see what size works for your tree and make sure the ears are smaller than the head so it looks like a true Mickey head. The styrofoam "ears" must be attached with a toothpick and glue to secure them onto the head. I suggest putting the toothpick in the "ear" and then pushing it through the head. The opposite option shoves the entire toothpick into the head so start with the toothpick in the ear. After you attach both ears to the head, add a bit of hot glue to secure them from falling off. 

 

Next, glue each ring to each other to make a "neck" for the tip of the tree. This helps the tree topper sit on the tree with ease. I have a feeling that these rings aren't as available as the balls, so the back-up option would be to use a toilet paper roll or paper towel roll. Cut the roll to measure about 2 inches tall. 

Once you have the "neck" ready, you can glue the neck onto the "head". 

 

Now it's time for the foil. Grab the foil and start covering the entire tree topper. I started with covering the head, then I covered the ears separately. This is your base to camouflage any open areas between the "tiles". If some pieces stick up, just add a little hot glue. For the neck of the tree topper, just cover the outside and leave the inside barely covered. You will see why..

 

Here is the why! Take your scissors and carefully sculpt out a hole. The tip of my christmas tree is pretty tall so I needed to carve out more room. Without doing this the tree topper would have been floating super far up on the tree. Use your best judgement on this. Carving out a hole, may not be necessary.

Next is the fun part. Start cutting the CD's into random pieces. Please note that each piece can be different because that's what makes it interesting!  You do not want the pieces to be bigger than your big toe. The ones that are the size of your big toe will most likely be used on the head. I cut up about 10 or 11 CD's for this project. I had to split it into two days because it was a lot of work. 

 

Now it's the fun, yet tedious part of the tutorial. Glue the CD's one by one to the tree topper. I felt the best way was to border around the ears and the neck and go from their. Things were fitting a lot better that way. 

I had to cut smaller pieces at one point to fit into smaller areas. The nice part is that you don't have to stress too much about squeezing things so close together because the foil is underneath to blend in with the CD's. One thing I noticed was that some CD's had to be handled with car because the mirrored part would just fall off the plastic. That is why I recommend using legit CD's over copies. I had more copies, so this happened a lot and what I did was just add glue to plastic and glue it onto the reflective material. 

 That is all! This is definitely a labor of love, so have patience. This would be an awesome idea for ornaments as well. I will have to save this to next years to-do list. Some tips to remember are the gaps are okay. If something doesn't fit perfectly, that's okay too. That adds the mosaic look:). If you guys decide to try this, please comment before and send me a DM to my instagram @thisdflove. I would love to share it!

As always, XOXO,

Jasmine