How to Make a Mini Organizer Box (Out of Cardboard)

"Upcycling is reusing materials and creating a new product of perceived greater value. It’s taking waste from products and transforming it into something new and better than it was before." - Amanda Hof

For this project, I have taken cardboard boxes that I had lying around at home, and instead of tossing them into the blue recycling bin that rests outside my house, waiting to consume waste, I have taken the time and effort to do the planet a favor and make something new and usable from them! Using my creative mindset, I came up with the idea of making a mini organizer box using a coffee machine box that (for some reason) my parents didn't throw out and 3 rectangular boxes of cookies that I have loved since a kid. I figured this would be a great way to reuse my resources, benefit the environment, and reduce my need of purchasing products that I can easily make at home.

• 4 boxes (1 big box, and 3 small rectangular boxes)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Sharpie
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Spray paint

Before I ever began to create my mini organizer out of cardboard, I had to do a lot of planning. As an engineering student, there is a particular process that I use to come up with creative products. The first step in this process is defining the problem. In this case, the problem (or better yet, the challenge) was to create a useful product for people using materials that everyone has lying around the house. Did you know that we never actually use about 80% of the things we possess? This is also another major problem, and this is why it's essential to upcycle; we must make the most of the materials we have. Another part of the engineering process includes listing your constraints. The constraint, in this case, would be the fact that I can only use materials I have at home. Apart from that, however, I have the freedom to make whatever I believe will be convenient for others. This, however, required much research! I spent 2 days looking for ideas, trying to take inspiration from others. Then one day, I was searching my house for materials I could use, and that's when I came across several cardboard boxes I had lying around. Suddenly, I figured I could use these boxes to create one big storage box since statistics show that people are quite unorganized. For example, according to the National Association of Professional Organizers, the average American spends 55 minutes searching for items they are confident they have but can't find, and they also spend one year of their life searching for lost items at home or at work. After coming up with my idea, I moved on to my last step, which is to design my solution and make a prototype. This instructable focuses on the steps I took to make a mini organizer to solve the problem of being unorganized.

In order to make a mini organizer, I first had to create a design. So, I used a CAD program called Onshape to design my product. I measured the dimensions of the boxes I had at home and used those measurements to create an accurate model of what I wanted my product to look like. I had to be specific in my design, and so I was. By being precise, I would have a good model to refer to when making my organizer. In this step, you will need to create your own design. In order to do this, you will need to take the measurements of your boxes (remember, you need three small boxes that will fit into one big box. However, you can always cut boxes to make them fit into the big box. As a matter of fact, that's what I had to do. My smaller boxes had a height of 4 inches, but I cut them to a height of 2 inches. You'll see this step later on), and create a plan by making a model of how you want your box to look (i.e. you must determine the height of your small boxes, determine where they will be positioned within the big box, etc). To summarize, this step requires that you create a model of the organizer you want to make, and use that model as your reference for making your prototype.

After you've worked on your model, it's time to get building. In this step, you will make some small changes to all your boxes. First, you need to take your big box and tape it shut. Next, you need to take your 3 smaller boxes and cut off the top pieces that are used to close them.

The next step is to create the drawers for the mini organizer using your small boxes. In my case, my small boxes were too big for my mini organizer, so I cut them in half. First, I drew a line across the entire box at 2 inches tall using my ruler. Then, I cut along the line using scissors. Next, I drew a semicircle with my Sharpie around the center of the box (this will act as the handle). And, of course, I cut along the semicircle I drew. I did this for all of my little boxes.

Next, place your drawers on top of your big box and position them where you prefer. Then, trace them using a Sharpie. After you've finished tracing along the drawers, you will need to take some scissors and cut along the lines you drew.

You have now reached the final step! All you need to do is make sure that the drawers fit into the big box (and make adjustments in case they don't) and paint the boxes the colors you prefer! Obviously, this step will require paint and a paintbrush. However, you could also use spray paint, which would be a lot easier and a lot faster to do. Now, you have a mini organizer where you can store plenty of things to stay organized and neat.