Today we're gonna be making cardboard drawers! I actually only used materials that I had lying around, so the expense for the project has been virtually zero! The best part of this whole project is that it is done using only cardboard, colored paper and scotch tape (aaand a little bit of glue). That's all you'll need!

Supplies

- Cardboard

- Thick paper (I used blue paper for the outside and light blue for the inside. Fun fact: the only reason I used two colors is that I finished the darker one halfway through. It turned out to be better this way tho!)

- Scotch tape (4,5 cm wide) [I used blue and transparent]

- PVA glue

Step 1: Cutting the Cardboard

First of all, cut all the pieces of cardboard you'll need. You may want to choose a particular orientation of the cardboard before cutting to make sure it is sturdier in the direction you'll need. The dimensions I used and the number of pieces I made are the following (remember that all the dimensions are highly dependent on your needs, for example I made it long enough to fit the wooden sticks I usually buy but small enough to fit in my wardrobe):

3 pieces, 20x35 cm (sturdy against bending parallel to long side) [bottom of all 3 drawers]

4 pieces, 5x35 cm [sides of 2 smaller drawers]

4 pieces, 5x20 cm [front and back of 2 smaller drawers]

2 pieces, 10x35 cm [sides of bigger drawer]

2 piece, 10x20 cm [front and back of bigger drawer]

8 pieces, 2x35 cm [drawer guides]

2 pieces, 37x21.5 cm (this actually depends on the thickness of your cardboard, see below) [main body top and bottom]

2 pieces, 37x23 cm [main body sides]

1 piece, 21.5x23 cm [main body back]

1 piece, 11x22 cm [front cover of bigger drawer]

2 pieces, 5.5x22 cm [front cover of smaller drawers]

Warning: all the dimensions listed above will most likely need some fine tuning because you may have to consider the thickness of the cardboard to assemble the drawers correctly. In particular, the main body must be of the exact width so that the drawer guides match (see the second image of step 5 as a reference).

Step 2: Assembling the Drawers and the Main Body

You may assemble the drawers and the main body. Use tape to keep each piece together at 90° angles, then drop a line of PVA glue along the edges. You may also glue the 2 cm strips on the sides of the top two drawers (the bottom one won't need a guide since is slides on the bottom).

Don't forget to glue corresponding strips inside the main body, so that the smaller drawers can slide over them. Don't worry if the drawer can't slide very well. To solve this problem, I placed scotch tape along the strips and on the sides of both the drawer and the main body and it acted as a bearing!

(Don't mind the batteries in the third picture, they're just weight used to glue the colored paper to the back!)

Step 3: Test Fit

You may now test for tolerances of the box and perhaps change the sizes a little bit. As said in the previous step, if the drawers can't slide properly, the rubbery surface of the tape can be used as a bearing!

As you can see from the picture, I glued some guides to the bigger drawer too, but they're just used as a spacer, so that the drawer will fit without shaking

Step 4: Covering With Colored Paper

Feel free to cover the drawers and the main body the way you like. I went for a plain blue color for the outside and light blue for the inside (because that's what I had lying around hahah!). Make sure to consider the thickness of the paper in case you want to cover the insides of the main body or the outsides of the drawers.

The drawers should slide freely and indipendently. The bigger drawer should slide on the bottom without needing any guide.

I used a lot of blue scotch tape to cover edges and corners which require too much precision to be covered with paper.

You may glue a front piece to each drawer to make sure it can't be pushed further than it should. I didn't use any knob because I can confortably open each drawer by pulling it by the sides of the front cover!

Step 5: Done!

Your drawers are done! I hope you liked this small project, tell me if you make it yourself!

You can now use it to organize all the little things you need to craft awesome stuff or generically fill it with goodies! :D