Basically I needed something to hold my craft supplies and help my 'minimalist' needs. {Well, haven't got there quite yet but i'm working on it.}

First ⭐ Materials

For Building: • Cardboard • Box Cutter {or Xacto Knife} • Ruler • Glue Gun + Glue • Marker

For Beauty Purposes: ModgePodge {or Glue} • Patching Plaster • Sandpaper• Recycled Paper + Wrapping Paper + Tissue Paper • Paint + Paint Brushes

Optional: • Aluminum Foil Packaging • Packing Tape / Duct Tape / Scotch Tape • Jewelry pieces / Rocks / Marbles

Step 1: ⭐ Figure Out Your Measurements

⭐ personally, i'm not a huge "measurer" but I knew I wanted it to be large and cube like. so a nice tip is to simply use your ruler as a landmark. My foundation pieces {the bottom and middle layers} were basically a 12in x 11in {30cm x 28cm} square. You will need three. The walls were also set for 12 x 11 inches.

from here you will figure out what exactly you would need spaces for. this is very important because if you have paper or books that you want to keep in the tower, you need to make necessary adjustments for them in height.So to make it easy, what I needed for the bottom layer was: a space for paper, small books , large rolls of duct tape and Misc objects.

with your writing utensil, measure which area you need for what on your foundation, then cut your walls for the foundation and mark where each shelf or space will be will be set on both the foundation piece and the walls.i started with some shelves, then two other areas to hold both paper, tape, glue, ect.

Step 2: ⭐ Start Building the Inner Walls

For the first sections, I wanted openings for papers and journals as well as misc items..

create some shelves first by cutting the 12in tall outer wall with a connecting piece the width you want your shelves to be as the openings. then cut two pieces of cardboard the same height and width as the openings for the inner wall {this will be the back of your shelves} and glue them together for strength. then glue this where you marked how far back you want your shelves to be.

{Note. You can see advanced areas in my documenting but I assure you, we'll get to all of them}

⭐ Another side-note, when creating particular places, I made them a certain thickness in order to make the cardboard in that area more sturdy {more on this later}

for the shelves, you will need three pieces of cardboard the same width as the openings. these will be used for the middle and bottom of your shelves.

Next create the wall that will be the opening for the books or paper. (this was a side and top flap from another box so I didn't need to glue a top on this side. However, the very top will be the 2nd foundation piece in step 3)

For the other side, I just added a smaller shelf and opening. {Another side-note - to add a little strength, glue a few stacked cardboard pieces under the shelf like in the pictures}

Step 3: Step 3 ⭐ the Makings of a Sturdy Top Layer

glue the second foundation piece to the overall cube. i added at least a half an inch to the sides to make this area strong for what's to come next. you will need to cut several small pieces of cardboard the same length as all sides to be glued to the inside. this will create a stronger top foundation for whatever weight you have for the second layer. then glue the third foundation piece you cut earlier on top of this.

Step 4: ⭐ the Top Layer

for the second layer, simply copy what you did for the first. however, for mine, it's a little more complicated.i wanted an area that could be closed off, and drawers for smaller objects, as well as a space for my washi tape and wrapping paper.first, the space for the wrapping paper. this was marked as a small square in the center so I wouldn't cover it.then i started to add the walls and bottom pieces for my drawers. and lastly my little "closet" area was added last.

1st picture : walls glued around wrapping-paper section with two shelves and one drawer area

2nd picture : same area with two shelves, however "closet" walls have been added to then make an area for my washi tape.

3rd picture : aerial view of same section with wrapping paper added to see how many I could fit.

4th picture : open section for four drawers

5th picture : the four drawer bottoms were glued in as well as the larger drawers on the other side

Step 5: ⭐ the "Closet"

For the closet, you want to construct it similar to a 'mirrored closet'.

your outer walls should already be added. from here you want to make a frame. this will hold the doors.

first, measure how thick you want your frame to be. {mine was half an inch, you don't want it too thick, as it will cover what's on the inside}. next you'll cut four half inch pieces to be glued on the rim of the foundation.

{note: if your walls were glued all the way to the end of the foundation when making your other sections; you can either cut some of the wall so the frame piece will fit perfectly without one side being longer than the other or cut the frame piece so when added, it will equal up to the half inch mark when glued next to the wall piece.}

now glue these pieces in place {top, bottom, left side & right side}. next you will apply a piece of scotch tape behind the bottom frame piece. this will be the width you use for both the doors to slide on and the other frame piece...

now cut two more frame pieces. these will be glued on the top and bottom half of the door frame. this is how the doors will stay in place. remember the scotch tape being your width guide, it should be the same width at the top.

when making the doors, you want one door to be slightly longer in width than the other {that piece will go in the back} you want to make sure the doors overlap a bit in order to stay in place to slide to either side.

when your frame is complete, you can either make a shelf for inside the closet or leave it like this. the opening at the top of the frame will enable you to take out the doors when you want.

Step 6: ⭐ the Drawers

measure the inside of each drawer section, you will cut the bottom of your drawers to these measurements. next measure the outside of each section for the front of the drawers. {these were done separately because the front of my drawers are mainly higher than the sides and backs.}

next, use your bottom pieces as a guide to measure the sides and back of your drawers. the length of the bottom piece will be the sides, and the width will be the back of your drawers.

on a new piece of cardboard, set a bottom piece on top and make a line of the width, then turn it once to make a line for the length {do for both sides}. however tall you want your drawers to be, cut them to that size from the lines you just made. from here you'll mark each side to finish the box and cut out the entire rectangle. score the lines you made for the length and width and bend them to create your sides. or simply cut them and glue all the pieces together to create your drawers. {to make life easier, number each drawer and drawer section to put in later}.

Step 7: ⭐ the Washi Roll

this is optional.

you'll need to use an old aluminum foil container, {the smaller box is probably best} and cut the box away but keep the roll and little cutter piece. we'll be using these for later.

In the washi tape space, you will need to cut at least 3 pieces of cardboard, glue them together, and glue to the edge of the section, this will be the place the cutter piece will be glued. {remember to put the washi tape on the roll to match the side you put your cutter on. so when you use it, the cut piece will actually face the cutter sticky-side down.}

Step 8: ⭐ the Top

i chose to make the top like that of a shoe box. you'll need another foundation piece but it'll be a few cm larger than the original. {this is only if you made a hole for wrapping paper at the top. otherwise you can just cut another foundation piece, glue it, then be done. only issue is, you won't be able to take the closet doors out whenever you want to, they'll be permanent.}

cut a hole the same size as the wrapping paper hole in your second tower. next make some strips to be the top frame {mine were 1 inch in width}. glue them to the bigger foundation piece. now it should fit on top of the tower like a shoe box : )

Step 9: ⭐ Adding an Ad-On

Also optional

A last minute addition you can add is another paper holder.

cut a small piece of cardboard the width of the outer wall you want the holder to be, this will be your frontal piece {something to remember: if you're going to put paper here, you may want to make it tall or else the paper will slump over creating unwanted curves} . next, cut another piece the width of your outer walls, except this piece will be smaller in length because it will be the bottom. {Cut according to need}. for the side pieces, they will be the length of your bottom piece and the height of your frontal piece {add a slant if you want, but if you do, make sure only one side is slanted on each piece.} The straight side will be glued to the tower. the slanted side will be glued to the frontal piece you cut first. then glue all pieces to the tower.

Step 10: ⭐ Perfecting Imperfections & Decor

Here you will use the plaster to fill holes, indentations, cracks, corners ect. use an old card or plaster knife to smooth. when its dry, use the sandpaper to sand uneven areas.

wherever you put plaster, take some scrap / recycled paper to glue or Modge-Podge onto those areas. this is especially useful for corners and putting a nice edge on shelf bottoms and tops.

you can paint or use tissue paper to decorate the inside of your shelves. {I did both} I liked the recycled paper look for some areas so i kept that how it was.

{As you can see from previous pictures, you can also do these parts as you go}

if you didn't paint the entire thing, cover the outside of the tower with wrapping paper.

I also did all this to the drawers.

use a tough glue or your glue-gun to add drawer and door handles. {this is where the marbles / jewelry / rock pieces may come in, whatever you choose} . Decorate the top using paints or tape..

Lastly, you can paint the foil roll and glue the cutter onto the outside of the washi tape area. cut the roll to size to be able to take out and put back when you run out or add more washi tape.

You can add and decorate the top with accessories from other projects like myself or existing storage containers.Then leave it, add wheels or put it on a Lazy-Susan {my choice}.

In the end, it took a really long time because of getting supplies and what not. But i really enjoyed this whole project and still use it as of today! Leave a comment if you like . And if you ever make something similar, show me! I'd love to see! Thanks for reading ♥