Desktop Organizer and Lamp

This is a little gadget I created to hold all of the things that usually lay all over my desk. It is also a lamp for your desktop.

For this project, I used:

-approximately 12" x 9" of 1/2" plywood

-a table saw

-a jigsaw

-a drill press

-wood glue

-clamps

-a lamp that I took apart

-a sticky note dispenser

-a wrench

-wire strippers/ cutters

-tape

-hot glue

So, the lamp I bought was very simple. There was a piece of felt on the bottom, which I took off. Basically, there are three parts: the light, the switch, and the power source, and they were each connected to the other two. I labeled which wire was connected to which. Then, I disconnected the wires and threaded them out of the piece of concrete and piece of plastic that were the base, unscrewed the light part, and popped out the switch component. So I had the 3 pieces disconnected.

Here are the pieces of wood I used. I used a table saw, but you could use other types of saws.

Main box:

-bottom: 2.5" x 4.75"

-sides (2): 4.75" x 4"

-front/back (2): 3.5" x 2.5"

Front panels for phone:

-bottom (2): 1.5" x 1.5"

-side (2): 3" x 1"

-front (2): 1.5" x 3"

-I drilled a hole the diameter of my light's screw thread and cut a rectangular hole with the dimensions of the bottom part of my switch box in the front of the main box. I used a jigsaw for the rectangle.

-In the back of the main box, I drilled a small hole for the wire of the power source.

-I screwed the light into its hole and attached the nut from my original lamp.

-I put the switch in its hole and used a little hot glue to keep it in place.

-I trimmed the wires so that they were just long enough to connect, then connected the light wire to its switch wire before gluing anything together.

Next, I glued all the pieces of wood together using wood glue and clamps to hold the wood together while the glue dried.

I glued the front and back to the bottom of the main box.

Next, I made the two panels that would hold my phone.

Then I glued those to one of the sides of the main box.

Before gluing the sides on, I put the power supply wire through the hole I made in the back, trimmed the wires so they fit nicely into the box, and connected the power supply to the light and the switch. I plugged the power supply in and made sure the light worked, because the wires are easier to work with before the whole box is together.

Then I glued the two sides to the main box.

Finally, I used the wood glue to attach the sticky note dispenser. The one I bought had a suction cup on the bottom, which I removed before attaching it. I also took it apart and just glued the bottom of it to the wood, then re-assembled it.

I added a sticker of a giraffe to the light, and a tail sticker to the back.

I also taped the wires down on the inside of the box.