Making an Organizer Box

This will be a simple instructable achievable for grades 3-5 (supervision required). This will be a step by step tutorial that upon completion you will successfully have made your organizer box and achieved STEL-8D: Follow directions to complete a technological task. This tutorial involves the practice of making and doing in the context of material conversion and processing, as you will be using tools to manufacture goods. In this case, a box. This tutorial is for anyone who wants something to help with clutter or wants to practice following a step by step procedure.

You will need

~140 sq-in of foamboard

a hot glue gun and extra hot glue sticks

an exacto knife

cutting board

pencil

a ruler or measuring tape

a straight edge

Once you have the necessary supplies you will need to take a look at the provided design and specs to see what we will be making. This provides a layout and information on the size of our box. *Please note there is an error in the value of the two pieces that are 3.625" - 2". They are supposed to be 3.125" - 2". This is rectified in later steps*

We now begin by drawing and cutting all of our pieces.

First up is the base: 10" - 7"

The easiest way to start is to find a corner of the foam board to reduce the amount of cuts

Find a corner and measure 10" down one side and mark it

Next measure 7" down the other side and mark that as well

Now that you have your marks, use a straight edge to draw lines inward to complete the rectangle if you've done this correctly your drawn lines should come out to be 10" and 7" as well.

Finally use the exacto knife to cut along the lines as seen above

Label each piece if you want, it makes them easier to keep track of

For this step we are making two 10" - 2" pieces

The easiest way to do this is to use the existing 10" edge from the last cut out. Instead of measuring 10" again you just have to measure 2" up and extend the lines as seen above.

Then simply cut along the lines

Once you have the first one done repeat the process once more to get the final piece

Next up are the other two sides of our box

Since we do not have an existing 6.5" edge we cannot just extend the lines like before, we need to make some new measurements.

From a corner measure and mark 6.5" one way and 2" the other way

Using your straight edge extend your lines to complete the rectangle

Cut along the lines and label your piece

Now we have an existing 6.5" edge to base the second piece off of

Using that edge measure 2" up and extend your lines as seen above

Then cut and label your last side piece

For this step we will be creating the long dividing piece that splits middle of the box

First find a corner, then measure and mark 9.5" down one side

The piece is 9.5" - 2"

So measure and mark 2" down the other side

Same as before extend your lines and make your cuts

Next we will be making the 3.75" - 2" divider

Find an corner to save cuts

Measure and mark 3.75" one way

Measure and mark 2" the other way

Extend your lines using a pencil and straight edge

Then cut along the lines and label your piece

Our last pieces are two 3.125" - 2" dividers

Once again find a good corner

Measure and mark 2" one way

Measure and mark 3.125" the other way

Use the straightedge to draw in the sides of the rectangle

Then cut the lines and label your piece

To make the second piece use the existing 3.125" edge then measure and mark the 2" side from there as seen above.

Finally cut and label your last piece

Next we are ready to begin assembling the box.

Layout all your pieces and plug in the hot glue gun and wait for it to heat up.

Now we begin putting up our walls

We will start with one of the 10" - 2" pieces

Using the glue gun apply glue down the length of one of the 10" sides as seen above

Match this 10" side with the top of one of the 10" sides of the 10" - 7" base piece as shown in the images

Next we will be putting up our first 6.5" - 2" side

For this piece you will need to apply glue along the two edges that will be touching the base and our first wall from the last step.

Once glue is applied firmly place the wall so that it is straight along the side and makes a right angle with our other side (Images for reference).

Now we will be adding our last 10" - 2" piece

using the images for reference you will need to apply glue a thin line of glue on the face that will goes up against our 6.5" - 2" piece as well as to the the bottom edge touching the base.

Firmly put the piece into position

so far your box should look like the last two pictures.

Now we are ready to put in the last wall and really make this thing a box

Take your last 6.5" - 2" piece and apply glue to one of the long edges and both the short edges

Next slide your piece into position between the two long sides and along the remaining edge of the base as shown above.

Now we have a box but we want to add some sections to it so we can organize our stuff

But before we glue in our sections we need to know where they go

Our first divider splits the box longways down the middle

So to start; on both short sides of the box measure and mark 3.5" from the top or bottom of the box as shown

Next grab your 9.5" - 2" piece and apply glue to three of the sides.

Now, using the marks you just made as a guide, firmly slide the piece into place through the middle length of the box so that it looks like the last picture.

Up until now top bottom left and right have not made much of a difference in construction.

Now however, you need to pick which 10" side you want to be the top and bottom

Once you decide on a top and bottom you will need to measure and mark 4" in from the top left and bottom left as shown above.

These marks show us where our vertical dividers are going to go for the next step

Using our markings from the step before we are ready to install our vertical dividers.

Grab one of your 3.125" - 2" pieces and line it up to the right of your mark as seen above

Apply your glue to three sides and insert it into place

Repeat these steps for your second piece and your second mark

Once you are done the vertical and horizontal dividers should form a t just like in the pictures above

For this final divider you will need to make one last measurement and mark 2" down from the top left corner.

Once you have your mark, grab your last piece (3.75" - 2") and apply glue to the three edges

Firmly put the last piece into place just above your mark as seen above

Congratulations you have completed your organizer box. You can do whatever you like with it; clean it up, paint it, wrap it, color it, break it, doesn't matter because you made it and you can do it again.