Self-Portioning Dog Feeder Made From Old Boxes

I love my dog, but one thing I can't stand is having to scoop his food out of the bag, and having to smell it every time! So I decided I'd upcycle old junk around my house to build a smarter way to feed him. I wanted my creation to not only be easy for me, but also for my dog! So, in this Instructable, I am going to share how I turned some old useless boxes into a cool, quick way to feed my dog and store his food.

I wanted my ideal "dog feeder" as I'm calling it to have several features. I wanted it to be able to store the dog food AND be able to automatically provide my dog with the correct portion of food. And after some trial and error, I finally created a contraption that is able to do this!

How It Works:

When you slide the bottom drawer out, there's a dog bowl inside filled with food! After your dog eats all the food you can slide the drawer back, and when you pull it out next time it will be refilled!

Inside the feeder, there is a box where all of the dog food is stored. The bottom compartment is a box with a dog bowl, and when you slide it back an opening in the dog-food-storage box aligns with the dog bowl and drops food into the bowl. So the next time you go to pull it out, the bowl will be full of food!

Download the video below to watch how it works!!!

Pictured above are some of the supplies you'll need for this Instructable. The full list includes:

• Large-sized cardboard box
• Medium-sized cardboard box
• Smaller cardboard box
• Large plastic bag
• 3 sheets of Spectra Rainbow Ridges paper in colors orange, yellow, and brown
• 2" by 10.5" cardboard piece
• 6" by 2.5" cardboard piece
• Masking tape
• Tacky glue
• Stapler
• String
• 3 beads
• yellow, orange, and black markers
• 1 piece of printer paper

As a side note, you might want to make sure you have a dog and some doggie food before starting the project :)

This step will include: all three cardboard boxes, tape

Before you jump right into building your dog feeder, you need to loosely assemble the boxes in the general format of the feeder to get an idea of how they fit together, and whether the sizes are compatible. After all, who wants to get halfway through a project just to figure out it won't work?

Unfold the flaps of the largest box and stand it up tall. Then, stack the medium box on top of the small box as shown in the picture, and slide it into the large box. If necessary, you can use tape to hold the medium and small boxes in place inside the large one. (Do not use glue because you need to be able to take this apart).

Fold the longer side flaps of the large box inwards.

Practice sliding the small, bottom box in and out of the contraption. It should be snug but easy to slide in and out. If everything fits well, disassemble the contraption and get ready to build!!!

TIP: Add a piece of tape to the front of the medium and small sized boxes so you know which side is your front--it will come in handy for the next few steps!

This step will include: Medium-sized box, scissors

The medium sized box will hold all of the dog food. So to start this project, we will first be cutting an opening on the top of this box. This opening is necessary so you can restock the food when you run out.

Stand the medium box up and cut along the perimeter of the top. If there are multiple flaps, try unfolding them and cutting them separately. You should be left with an outer frame that is roughly 1/2 inch all the way around.

This step will include: Medium Box, scissors

The food will leave the box and go into the dog bowl through this opening. So you don't want to make it so large that it is bigger than the dog bowl, but if you make it really tiny then your food will get stuck.

Flip the box over so you can begin cutting the bottom. Cut out a relatively small rectangular opening on the bottom towards the front part of the box.

This step will include: Medium box, plastic bag, scissors, stapler

Because the medium box will store all the food, you need to add a liner. The plastic bag will serve this purpose.

Stand the box up and unfold the flaps on the top. Then, put the plastic bag inside the box, almost like it's a trash can.

Roughly trim the excess if it doesn't fit precisely. (As you can see from the picture, my bag was way too big!) Once the bag is cut to fit the box better, lightly tape it in place.

This step will include: Medium sized box, tape

Now we have to cut a hole in the liner so the food can leave the box.

Completing this step is as simple as it sounds! Flip the box over and carefully cut a hole in the plastic where the opening is at the bottom of the box. Tape the loose liner to the edges of the hole to secure it.

This step will include: Medium sized box, stapler, tape

Use the stapler to hold the loose plastic to the top of the box. Then, secure the top edges even further by taping them to the top of the box. Now, you're done lining the box!

This step will include: Small box, scissors, glue, 2" by 10.5" cardboard scrap

First, cut out a hole in the center of your small box. This hole will be from where the dog eats. The more your dog eats, the bigger you should cut the hole--each portion will fill the entire circle dish. (Try to cut the hole as precisely as possible, you'll need to use the circle you cut later). However, if you decide to cut the hole larger, cut more to the sides than up or down. You will need to have a decent margin of space to the top and bottom of your hole.

Take your cardboard strip and wrap it in a circle along the hole you've cut out.

Put glue along the top of your cardboard strip and press it into place. Once the glue is dry, you can trim the top if there is excess cardboard sticking up.

Take the circle you made from cutting out the hole. Drizzle glue on one side and place it at the bottom of your dog bowl.

This step will include: All three boxes, scissors, glue

Stack the medium box on top of the small box and slide it into the large box, like you did before. Be sure to center the other two boxes inside the large box.

On the top flap of the large, outer box, cut 2 lines that stop about halfway down the top. Center these cuts so that they're lined up with the edges of the opening on the medium box. This will leave you with three sections. The middle one will be like a door that you open and close to restock the food, so you want to have the middle section lined up with the hole on the medium sized box.

Then, glue the outer two sections to the medium sized box. When the glue is dried, the medium box should be able to hang in place without the small box underneath it.

This step will include: String, large box, scissors

Cut three pieces of string, each about 18 inches in length. You want to give yourself extra string to work with so the strings don't end up being too short.

Because the small box, or dog bowl, will later be able to slide freely in and out of the box, we need to make sure it can't slide out too far. So, string is attached to the outer box and the dog bowl so that there's a limit to how far it can slide. (In this step, we will just be attaching the string to the box).

Poke three holes on the back of the large box as shown in the picture, each about 2 inches apart. Take your string and thread it through the hole. Slide a bead onto the end of each string and tie it tight. Now, the string will not be able to slide through the hole.

This step will include: Large box, scissors

Now that the strings are attached line them up straightly through the front of the box. Run a line of tape across to prevent them from moving. Cut along the edge where the tape is lined.

This step will include: Large box, small box (dog bowl), 6" by 2.5" cardboard piece, tape, glue

Lay the large box on its "back" and lean back the top flap connected to the medium box so it is out of your way. Tape each string to the back of the small box. Before you completely secure it, stand the contraption up and practice sliding the small box in and out. If the dog bowl does not fully stick out when the strings are stretched to their full length, re-adjust. You may need to tape less of the string to the box.

Once you know the strings are the perfect length, add a dab of glue under the tape where the string connects to the dog bowl box for extra support. Then put an additional layer of tape over top of all of the strings.

Finally, take your piece of cardboard and tape it on top of the small box sticking out the back. This piece of cardboard will block the opening where the food pours out on the medium sized box when the dog bowl is sticking out.

This step will include: Large box, tape, glue

Fold the side flaps of the large box inwards and tape them in place. Make sure you are able to slide the bottom box in and out with the flaps in this position.

Add a line of glue where the flap meets the bottom corner, and let that dry.

This step will include: Large box, tape, scissors

Once the glue is dry, add lots of tape securing the side flaps in place. Use scissors to trim the extra corner edges.

This step will include: Box contraption, brown ridge paper, scissors, glue

Take one of your ridge papers and cut a 9.5" by 6" rectangle. Glue this rectangle to the front of the box.

This step will include: Box contraption, yellow and orange ridge paper, scissors, glue

Take the other two ridge papers and cut a 12.5" by 8.5" rectangle out of each. Glue each rectangle to one side of the box.

This step will include: Box contraption, yellow and orange ridge paper, scissors, glue

Cut a 3" by 9" piece out of each color ridge paper. Glue the yellow strip to the top of the box on the left section. Glue the orange strip to the top of the box on the right section. Flip the box upside-down so you can cut the excess edges sticking out.

This step will include: Box contraption, brown ridge paper, scissors, glue

Cut a piece of brown ridge paper that is 9" by 3.5." Then cut this piece in half. Glue one half to the flap on the top of the box. Glue the other half to the cardboard behind it.

This step will include: Box contraption, brown ridge paper, scissors, glue

Cut a small piece of brown ridge paper that is 1.5" by 3." Glue it in the small rectangular space between the yellow and orange ridge papers.

This step will include: Box contraption, brown ridge paper, scissors, glue

Cut out a 6" by 2" piece of brown ridge paper and glue it to the front of the dog bowl box. Then cut a 6" by 2.5" piece and glue it to the top of the box, taking up the space right in front of the bowl.

This step will include: Box contraption, brown ridge paper, scissors, glue

Cut a 6" by 4.5" piece of ridge paper. Then, cut a circle out in the middle to go around your dog bowl. For me, it was easier to cut the piece of paper in half and then cut a semi circle on each half. Once you glue it around your dog bowl, you are finally done decorating all the sides!

This step will include: Box contraption, brown ridge paper, scissors, glue

Finally, cut small squares out of the ridge paper and glue them together. Make each square you cut smaller than the last until you have a pyramid-like shape, and glue it to the front of the dog bowl.

This step will include: Box contraption, printer paper, scissors, yellow, orange, and black markers, glue

Last but not least, I am going to add my dog's name to the feeder. I started by cutting a 7" by 3" piece off of my printer paper. Then, I cut the paper into the shape of a dog bone. I decorated the dog bone with my dog's name and outlined the shape of the bone in marker. I made one half yellow and one half orange to match the box. Finally, I glued the bone onto the front of the box.

YAY!!! Although there are many challenging, and even confusing steps involved with this instructable, now you are done with your self-portioning dog feeder!!!