How to Make a Recycled Nintendo DS Case

You just bought a nintendo DS? cool! i bet you bought a few games? awsome! and now your broke? i have been there too. This Instructable will show you how to make a nintendo DS case from stuff you probly have hanging around you house. You will also be recycling some plastic bags in the process. you will have a spot to put up to 4 game cartriges, and a holder for an extra stylus. well, lets get started!

you will need about 4 plastic bags, an iron, an ironing board, aluminum foil, duct tape, scissors, a ruler, a stapler, and velcro. (velcro is optional, but its nicer with it.)

to begin, get one og the plastic bags and lay it down flat. cut off the very bottom and the handles. cut down the side, then lay it out so you have a long piece of plastic. then cut the plasit into strips. you want lots of short strips, not a few long ones. do this to about 4 bags. do it to 5 and leave out the logos on the bags if you dont want the logos to show, though it makes it look cooler, i think.

now you want to set up your ironing board. and your iron. if you arent sure how to use it, find a parent to help. if you are a parent and are to lazy, get your kid to do it. you want to plug in the iron and set it on low heat and NO STEAM. while it is heating up, lay out some foil on the ironing board. lay some of the strips down side by side, without gaps on top of the foil. make sure the plastic strips make about a square foot, but going a little bigger never hurts. the lay some strips on it going the opposite direction, then do that again. (opposite of that layer.) dont do more than 3 layers, otherwise it wont work right. then put another layer of foil on top of that. MAKE SURE THE FOIL COMPLEATLY COVERS THE PLASTIC ON BOTH SIDES! other wise you will get melted plastic on the iron and bord. very messy.

Now, heres the fun part. our iron should be heated up now. Slowly iron the foil. go over it a few times. making sure to get every part. do not directly iron the plastic!!!! you should hear a small crackeling sound. thats the plastic shrinking and fusin together. lift up the foil, it might be stuck to the plastic, just peel apart gently. if it is still seperate pieces, try turning the heat up on your iron and do it again. if you see little holes or burn marks, it is to hot. turn it down!

Turn over the whole thing and iron the other side to. make sure there arent any pieces that are not fused together, but its ok if the edges are wack. take it off the foil and ta da! you just fused plastic bags together!

Now, trim the extra plastic off the edges. now set your DS at the bottom of the fused plastic sheet. (i am not using measurements because the DS, the DS lite, and the DSi are all different sizes.) mark it so you have about 3/4 of an inch extra on each side. then trim. you should now have a piece of plastic a little wider than your DS and a little over 3 times as long.

Cover one of the shorter ends with a piece of duct tape. trim extra off. the rest of this masterpiece will be made with duct tape.

now set your DS on the plastic. fold up the end with the tape up over the DS so you can just barely see the DS. Center it so you have at least half of an inch hanging over each side. the fold the side like you would a christmas present, then put some tape over it to secure it. do the same to the other side, but dont let it get to tight, or you wont be able to get it out. When you are done with that, trim the edges so that they arent curving around the sides.

OK, this step may seem complicated, but just look at the pictures if you get confused. first, fold the plastic flap over the DS. take the plastic that hangs over and fold it under, don't cut it off! then take a piece of tape and fold it over on to itself. Make sure it is as long as the end of the plastic. put a piece of tape half under the folded edge of the plastic so there is some sticking out. put the piece of folded duct tape on the sticky side of the tape on the plastic. then unfold the plastic and secure it to the tape with a piece of tape.

the put one of your games in the fold, and mark it so a little bit of the cartridge will stick out. then trim it. for the next part, follow the pictures as closely as possible. you will be folding some tape over the ends so your games wont get sticky. do that with both sides. you should be able to fit 4 games in this pocket. if not, try re-adjusting the sides so you can.

now, these games will fall out unless we put a flap over it. take a long piece of duct tape and fold it on to itself. it should be a little shorter than the pocket you just made. Put another piece of tape half over one of the long ends. slide it into the pocket and press the tape down so it sticks. put your games in the pocket, and try folding over the flap and tucking it in. you can make it longer or shorter if you need to.

You may be tempted to stop there, but if you hold on for 2 minutes you can have a spiffy stylus holder too. take a smaller piece of tape and fold it onto itself. then wrap it around an extra stylus. secure with some more tape. then tape that to the plastic in between the DS and the game pocket. ta da!

This next part is optional. Staple some velcro to the middle of the game pocket. DO NOT STAPLE THROUGH BOTH LAYERS OF TAPE!!! just the first layer. then put some tape over the staples in the inside of the pocket so it wont scratch your games.

With the DS and games in their spots, set the other piece of velcro on the one staples down. fold it over and mark where it lands on the DS pocket. staple, cover with tape, only staple one layer. easy enough, right?

And thats it! all those blood sweat and tears finally paid off. Feel free to embelish your creation with sharpies. i would like to thank reclusivemonkey and his instructable, that is where the original idea for the case came from. enjoy your gaming!