The Cardboard Guy: Mini Cardboard Desk

Hi there, Cardboard Guy here, and today we are going to make a mini cardboard desk!

The difficulty level for this project is...

LEVEL 5

You will use medium sized pieces of cardboard and quite a bit of patience.

Great! Now it's time to get your cardboard.

5 1' x 2' 2" SWC sheets 3 PIECE 2, 4, and a bit of 7

4 1' x 1' SWC sheets (Or 2 DWC) PIECE 3

2 7" x 11 1/2" SWC sheets PIECE 5

1 9" x 11 1/2" SWC sheet PIECE 6

1 1' 2" x 2' 4" SWC sheet PIECE 7

3 2' 2" x 1' 1 1/2" SWC sheets PIECE 1

All your sheets should be uncreased and unripped.

PIECE 1

Get one of your 2' 2" x 1' 1 1/2". Choose one of the long sides to be the side closer to you, and measure one foot away from the right side. Cut a upwards 1 and 1 1/2". Then, on the left side, measure 5" and make the same cut upwards. Cut to the edge of where the measurements came from. If you don't understand, it should look like this:

The 1 foot side is on the right bottom, the long cut. The 5 inch cut is the on the bottom left corner. Remember, the cut upwards is 1 1/2 inches.

Once you figure out how to do this, duplicate this piece 3 times. Glue all the three pieces together, making sure the edges meet perfectly.

The finished product, all glued together.

Another view of the piece.

PIECE 2

Now get one of your 1' x 2' 2"s. Cut it into this piece.

Duplicate 2 times, then glue together.

PIECE 3

Now get all your 1' x 1' pieces. If they are DWC sheets, then they are done. put them aside. If they are 4 SWC sheets, then glue 2 of them together, just like how you did the other gluing. Then the other two together as well.

PIECE 4

Piece 4 is one of the the 1' x 2' 2" piece that you have. this will be the back of the desk.

Now, glue all these pieces together using the tape holding method .


Make sure the side of the piece is glued, not the bottom (where the corrugates show is the bottom).

If you have any problems with this step, leave a comment saying you don't understand, and I will post more pictures and try to explain it to you.

Now we make the little compartment. The nice thing about this compartment is that it fits standard notebooks, which are 9" wide.

PIECE 5

Piece 5 is the 2 7" by 11 1/2" pieces. These will be the sides of the inside of your notebook compartment.

PIECE 6

Piece 6 is that 9" x 11 1/2" sheet.

Now it's time to glue.

Glue the PIECE 5's like so. Use the taping method to make the PIECE 5's meet PIECE 2 nicely. The PIECE 5 does not have to touch PIECE 4, only PIECE 2 and PIECE 1.

The PIECE 5's glued. If you look closely, they are not touching the back piece (PIECE 4). If they were, you would see a shadow on PIECE 4.


How to tape PIECE 5 to PIECE 2.

Great! You're two steps away from the end of the project!

PIECE 7

Get your last two 1' x 2' 2" sheets, and glue them together. Then, glue the 1' 2" x 2' 4" to them. This will be the top of the desk, so glue the uglier side to the 1' x 2' 2"s!