Cardboard Tray

In this Instructable I will show you how to make a decorative an useful tray that i made out of mainly composed of cardboard. It's great if you have just moved and have lots of cardboard boxes.

Step 1: Materials

Large cardboard box
Elmers glue
sissors
ruler
pencil
screwdriver
masking tape
cardstock
white paint and paint brush
long wire
coarse sand paper

Step 2: Unfold the Box

Completely unfold the box.

Step 3:

using the ruler and a pencil, cut out five 34cm by 40cm rectangles.

Step 4: Drawing the Borders

Choose one of the nicer rectangles and put it aside. Using the ruler and pencil, draw 4 cm borders from the sides on the other 4 rectangles. cut out the inside of 3 out of the 4 rectangles you just drew.

Step 5: Make a Triangle Template

Using your card stock, cut out an equilateral triangle where one side id 3 cm. Take the rectangle with the border you did not cut out and use it to trace around the border(easier shown in the pictures). Cut the center out like the other rectangles, except cut out around the triangles.

Step 6: Gluing the Trio Together

Take the three rectangles w/ the centers cut out and glue them together. Sand the inside and outsides to clean and fix any unevenness.

Step 7: Holes for the Handles

Find the center of the shorter side of the three pieces we just glued and draw a line 4 cm from the left and right of it. do this on both sides. Draw one horizontal line that intercepts both of these lines that is 2cm from the top and 2cm from the bottom. View pictures for better understanding. Poke holes w/ your pencil where these lines cross.

Step 8: More Glue

Glue the rectangle w/ the triangle border to the board that has not been cut yet.

Step 9: Handles

Take a piece of extra cardboard and cut out two rectangles that are 15cm by 22cm. Draw 3 vertical lines at 3.5cm, 7.5cm, and 11.5cm. Cut from the bottem corners to the top where it meets the lines(refer to the handy dandy pictures below) on both rectangles. Peel off the top layer off both of the quaterlaterals and put glue on it. Roll it up and hold it tightly until it dries.

Step 10: Pokeing Holes

Poke two holes 8cm apart in both handles. I used a pencil and a screwdriver to do this. Once again, veiw the pictures for help.

Step 11: Wires

Take aproxx 25 cm or more and thread it through the handles. Continue threading through the three rectangles that you poked the holes through. On the other side of the board, twist them together like a twisty tie. Do this with both handles.

Step 12: Gluing Two Halves Into One

Follow the pictures to glue the final halves together. Refer to the pictures.

Step 13: Paint!

Paint your board with white paint. paint 2-3 layers, so some of the brown still shows through. On the handles, you can cover the wire w/ masking tape and paint over that with another layer or two. paint in long strokes in one direction.

Step 14: Finished!

Your finished tray may seem light, but if made with enough glue, can easily hold up to ten pounds. If you wish, you can varnish it. Thats it, so enjoy!