Baseball Card Earbud Holder

Nothing is more frustrating than pulling your favorite earbuds out of your backpack, purse, or pocket, only to have them snarled up in a tangled mess. You pull, unknot, and yank at them, only to either pull the knots tighter or damage the super-thin cords inside, rendering them useless.

I feel your pain. I have lost many a pair of beloved earbuds in this manner. Nowadays, my earbuds tend to have the little control on them, so I can use them to talk or to listen to music. I found a similar design for handy earbud holder using an expired credit card, but there were to inherent problems that I found with the design:

1. You are using an old credit card that can potentially provide a link to your personal information.

2. The design didn't really allow for me to be able to wind my earbuds with the audio controls around it easily.

I took that original design and improved upon it. I give you the Baseball Card Earbud Holder Instructable.

To build this, you'll need the following items:

* Some sort of cardboard card (playing card, baseball card, or, as I used in the picture, the advertisement card from a pack of Magic: the Gathering cards)

* Duct tape

* A hole punch

* A good pair of scissors

* An X-Acto knife (optional)

* Your favorite earbuds (not pictured, I love my Samsung Galaxy earbuds!)

Using your duct tape, wrap several layers around the card, getting as flush to the card edge as possible. Wrap as many layers as you want, as each layer adds to the thickness. Don't go overboard though, because you will eventually have to cut through some of the material to make the holes.

(Creativity Note: This would be a great project to use the themed duct tape rolls you can find in department stores! I personally prefer classic black).

Once you have your duct tape to the desired thickness, move on.

If you are using a hole punch, punch two holes on the upper short edge of the card (or, if you prefer, you can use an X-Acto knife). Make sure that they are approximately the same distance from the edge of the card. On the opposite end, punch a hole slightly off-center.

Using your scissors, carefully cut a small slit from the short edge of the card to the center of each hole. However, do NOT cut the off-center hole.

Cut a V-shaped groove next to the off center hole. It should reach approximately 1/5 the length of the card length (again, X-Acto knife would be good for accuracy, but scissors will suffice). Cut a square cut about 1/4 the length of the card between the two holes at the top.

To wrap earbuds:

1. Insert earbuds in the top two holes of the card.

2. Wrap the cord around the center grooves.

3. Once the cord is close to being completely wound, insert the earphone jack into the offset hole at the bottom of the card.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed my Instructable. If you have ideas for a different or improved design, please discuss in the comments!