How to Make Display Risers From Foam Board

These display risers are inexpensive to make and don't require special tools. They're sturdy and attractive without taking attention away from the items they display.

• 20"x30"x3/16" foam board
• Utility knife
• Hot glue gun with several glue sticks
• T-square, yard stick or some other kind of long straightedge
• Pen
• Poster Board
• Double-sided tape
• Knife Sharpener (optional)

First, decide how deep and how tall you want the risers to be. This will depend on what you want to display and where you want to display it, so take my measurements as one example only. For my risers, I'll be using them in a display case so I want to make sure there's enough clearance between the topmost step and the shelf above it for my items to fit. My dimensions ended up being 7" tall and 9" deep. Now take those numbers and divide them by the number of steps you want. I'm doing two steps so each step will be 3.5" tall and 4.5" deep.

For most of my risers, I use three supports: one for each side and one in the middle to prevent the risers from bowing. Since ponies aren't very heavy, one support in the middle works for me. However, add in as many as needed depending on how heavy your items are. The more supports, the sturdier the risers will be.

Once you have the measurements, draw the support pieces onto the foam board using a ruler and pen.

Using a straightedge and a utility knife, start to cut out the supports. Make several shallow passes for each cut instead of trying to make the cut all in one pass.

If the knife feels like it's hitting bumps or dragging instead of cutting smoothly, it may need sharpening. That resistance you feel while cutting means that the foam is being torn rather than cut. If the cut looks ragged like in the photo above, it's definitely time to sharpen. The little white bits of foam are another sign to look out for.

Luckily, sharpening the blade is really easy. Just run the blade along the sharpener a few times on both sides of the blade and you're back in business. Alternatively, you could just snap the blade off along one of the score marks to get to a fresh cutting edge. Foam and paper are both very hard on a blade so expect to sharpen at least once during this process.

If you haven't already, now's the time to determine the width of the risers. If you'll be putting them in something like a bookcase, measure the width of the space and cut the strips slightly shorter to give them a little tolerance. My strips were 16".

• For the depth of each step, cut a strip matching the depth measurement from the support pieces. For my risers, that means I'll be cutting two strips that are 4.5" x 16".

• For the height of the bottommost strip, cut it at the height from the support piece plus the thickness of one board. The foam board I used was 3/16" thick, so my bottommost piece was approx. 3.68" x 16".

• For any additional height strips, they can be cut using the height from the support piece. This made mine 3.5" x 16".

Once you have all the measurements, draw them on the foam board and cut using a long straightedge like a T-square to keep the cuts neat.

Gather all the pieces and plug in a hot glue gun. Run a bead of hot glue along the top edge of one support piece and line up the corresponding depth strip to be as close to a 90 degree angle as you can get while being careful of the hot glue that may squish out. Hold it in place for a few seconds until the glue cools slightly.

Do the same for the other end of the strip and you should have the start of your framework. Now add the additional support piece at the approximate middle of the risers. If using more than three supports then just space them evenly.

For any additional depth strips, run a bead of hot glue down the top of each support piece and quickly put the strip in place, paying special attention that the side pieces are even.

Now glue in the front-facing strips. It doesn't matter which one is done first, just make sure to put the tallest one on the lowest step. Dry fit them first to make sure you have the right one.

Flip the risers onto their back to make glueing the next parts a little easier. Like before, run a bead of hot glue down the edge of all support pieces and press the strip into place, keeping everything as even as possible. Repeat until all strips are in place.

Now flip the risers over and run a generous bead of hot glue along the seams on the underside. This helps strengthen the risers without having gloppy hot glue all over the outside.

If you're happy with them as-is you could call them done at this point. Personally, I like to cover them to make them look seamless.

Note- It doesn't have to be poster board. In the past I've used felt to hide hot glue sins. I think poster board gives them a clean, crisp look so that's what I use now.

Use a ruler, a tape measure or just estimate it if you're brave. Get a measurement for the steps to cover them from top to bottom and draw it out on the poster board. My piece was approx. 16.375" x 16". Cut it out.

Line the edge of the poster board up with the back of the top step and start to bend it over the first edge. Do this in a few places along the edge to make registration marks, then remove it from the risers. Using the registration marks you made, start to fold along them, making sure to keep the sides even. Once there's a nice even fold, take something smooth to burnish it and make it crisp. I used the handle of a pair of scissors.

Now fit the poster board onto the risers just like before and make the creases for the next junction. Repeat the process of making the fold and burnishing it until the cover is complete. Put strips of double-sided tape along the outer edges of the risers, carefully line up the cover, and press it into place.

If there are any areas where the poster board overhangs, carefully trim it away. The same goes for any egregious hot glue globs.

If the sides of the risers will be visible, cut pieces of poster board to match and secure them in place with double-sided tape. In may case, they were going into a cabinet so covering the sides wasn't necessary.

That's it, you're done! Now fill the risers with your Funko Pops, My Little Ponies, tea cups, or whatever you like to collect. If you enjoyed this Instructable, please consider voting for it in the First Time Author Contest :)