Recycled Cardboard Art Supplies Organizer

I don't know about you, but my art station is messy. I mean really messy. I also have a lot of cardboard boxes lying around, just waiting to be used. So today I will be showing y'all how to make an organizer for your art supplies out of cardboard. I made mine pretty big, but you can make yours any size and this will work out fine!

*NOTE* To show you the steps I took to make this, I will have to use a smaller model. This is because I came up with this project as I was making it. Never fear! It will turn out the same as the original!

You will need:

2 Cardboard boxes (I used Amazon Boxes because of the color)

Glass seed beads

Hot Glue Gun (and glue of course)

Slightly larger glass beads *OPTIONAL*

Glass tube-shaped beads *OPTIONAL*

Scissors and/or knife (I used scissors so I would have less of a chance to cut my fingers off.)

Ribbon- and not the paper kind (it will melt. Trust me, I've tried)

Patience- At times you will want to smash the whole thing into a million pieces.

Cut 3 rectangles out of cardboard. Remember that since this is the base, this is how big your organizer will be. The rectangles will all need to be the same size or at least close to the same size. Glue them together. They should form a "C" if looked at from the side. Cut another rectangle from cardboard. This one will be slightly smaller. Glue it in the middle of the C. The finished product for each step will look like the picture I've included.

Cut 2 more rectangles out of cardboard. These will not be as wide as your base rectangles because they are the sides. Think of what a rectangular prism looks like. If you need to, measure your cardboard up against the piece you are fitting it for. Glue them to the sides of your "E" shape.

Again, cut a rectangle out of your cardboard and make sure it is as wide as your base. This rectangle won't be as tall as your original rectangles. Glue this one to the top of the shelf. Cut a smaller rectangle and glue it directly in the middle of the top shelf. Refer to my picture for this step if you need help.

:)

Get out your small seed beads. You will glue these around the outermost sides of the "shelf". Don't give up! And please don't smash it, it's not worth it.

Notice how the innermost sides kinda look like an upside-down T? Well, break out your larger beads, because we're about to do the same thing to these sides. Glue the larger beads along the "t" and do the same to the back of the organizer.

Ok, so you're definitely going to have to look at my picture for this step. It's really hard to explain, bear with me my friends. Cut a rectangle and make sure it can fit inside the shelf. This will be the front of the big drawer. Cut a base for the drawer. You will have to measure this against your organizer because the size and shape will vary for everyone. Make sure it fits totally inside of the thing. Cut a rectangle smaller than the one you made for the front because this one will fit inside too. Glue the big rectangle to the front of the base and the small one to the back. Then, cut 2 equally sized pieces of cardboard for the sides. These will be smaller than your front and back rectangles. Then glue your ribbon to the bottom of the big drawer. This will make the look organizer cool.

Do the same thing for your top 2 drawers except for the rectangle front piece because these will be more square-shaped. Remember to add ribbon and make sure the drawers fit.

*First Picture is the big drawer, Second is the little ones*

Put your drawers into your organizer as shown in my lovely picture above. I should be a photographer! (wink wink)

Get out your tube-shaped beads and look at the back of your organizer where you put the slightly larger beads a few steps ago. Glue your tube beads down both sides.

Glue your tube-shaped beads down both vertical sides of all your drawers. Then do the same thing with the only remaining side which is the top. That side should be the side opposite of the ribbon.

Cut a square base out of cardboard. Then cut the sides of the holder. These will be, you guessed it! Rectangles! Glue them to the base and glue a piece of ribbon on the bottom. Glue more tube-shaped beads along the sides of the front rectangle of the holder. Do the same with the top side of the holder. The one opposite of your ribbon. The paintbrush holder should end up looking a little bit like your drawers.

And this is what it should look when you're done! Yay! Now you can be organized and not lose your art supplies all the time like me!

If you're reading this right now, thank you for coming this far and taking a look at my project! I hope you'll consider making this, and if you do, show me your masterpiece! I'll be entering this in the Cardboard Challenge, so here goes nothing... Hope you liked my Instructable!

:)

*This project was not sponsored by Amazon*