Waste Paper Basketball Hoop

Everyone at some point has experienced the euphoria of crumpling a piece of paper into a ball and chucking it into the disposal. I wanted to take that one step further. My goal in making this project was to create an elevated bin with a designated backboard, perfect for making recycling that much more fun.

• waste bin
• poster board or 24 in X 18 in paper
• measuring stick/measuring tape
• wire
• command hooks
• markers
• scissors

I have, at my disposal, sheets of paper that are 24 inches by 18 inches. If you want to recreate this, though, it might be easier to find poster board and use that instead.

I've included a downloadable pdf drawing of the dimensions I used. I decided on them because they provided a classic backboard look while using as much of the sheet of paper as possible. I used a yard stick and a pencil to sketch out the design along with a homemade compass (shown how to make here). When that was completed, I went over the inner square with red sharpie and the outline with black, erasing the pencil lines as I went.

After I was satisfied with the look, I cut out the backboard and went on to determining how I would elevate the bin.

I wanted a nonpermanent way to secure the bin, so I settled on using command hooks. Those hooks needed something on the bin to latch onto, so I set about creating some wire loops and weaving them through the mesh on the bin.

I made sure to put the loops far enough down so they and the hooks would not be clearly visible when the bin was hanging. I spaced them 7 inches apart and then moved on to putting it all together.

I selected a place on my wall that wasn't too far away, but wasn't too close either. This way, tossing crumpled paper balls into it would still be a challenge, but not impossible. I took care to ensure the command hooks were level and then put the bin up. I put bits of putty on the back of the backboard cutout and placed it behind the bin, completing the look.

With that, the project was complete and the only thing left to do was test it out. It worked perfectly. I don't know that they'll send scouts from the MBA after me anytime soon, but I'll keep you posted.

Thank you so much for reading this. If you enjoyed this instructable, please don't hesitate to comment, favorite or look at my other instructables.