Craft-D-ness: DIY Desktop Supply Organizer: Recycled Boxes

It is staggering to think about the stuff we throw away rather than reusing, re-purposing, or recycling it. Speaking of recycling, I made this desktop supply organizer over the course of a day and actually had fun doing it! I made my first desk organizer from recycled boxes some years ago during an Earth Week challenge and felt a great sense of accomplishment knowing I was helping the environment as well as myself. I believe we are to be good stewards to all we've been given, and that includes this space sphere we call Earth.

After seeing the desk organizer pictured below for $90 on a popular member-only shopping site, and then again on a office supply site for $40, I knew I could make my own for $0! I used old boxes that we normally throw away and craft supplies that I already had on hand. I hope you will be inspired to look at your garbage a second time and see what you can create!

Photo source: Biggestbook.com

Here's how I made my desk organizer.

Supplies Used:
various boxes rescued from file 13 (use whatever you have on hand!)
Craft Paint
Hot Glue
Craft sticks or Popsicle sticks (2)
Mod Podge
Scrapbook papers
utility knife

I used the photo above as a quasi-template. I started by cutting the top flap of a yogurt box off and flipping it over to become the middle divider. To support the middle divider (I didn't want it to sag once I loaded it with my supplies), I broke a craft stick in half and trimmed it to the right height and glued it to the front inside edges to stabilize it.

I hot glued each section in place as I worked on the organizer which adds to its stability.

Next, I used a Moon Pie snack box to create the little cubby on the bottom left. I opted to omit the drawer as seen on the inspiration organizer.

Finally, I cut the end off of a Water Bob box and placed it in the upper right corner, to create my first storage section. I added another portion of the Moon Pie box to divide the upper right portion into a smaller section.

Once the desk organizer was assembled, I painted it black. The next step was adding to scrapbook paper to the facade using Mod Podge. It still seemed plain to me so I cut out inspiring words from scrapbook paper and added them in graffiti style.