Budweiser Box Cardboard Wall Mounted Mail Holder

Still having too many Budweiser cartons, and too much time and no life, I gave my liver a break and did some more crafting. Living with two other alcoholics, it's not only empties that pile up, but the multitude of mail, bills, menus that are junking up the place. I know I could burn them, especially the bills. A letter holder seemed like a semi-lucid alternative. This instructable builds off the shelf unit made earlier. It is predominately diagrams in the hopes that it makes it easier to follow.

Things you will need:
A Budweiser 18 pack box
+ Another Budweiser box, smaller, six pack perhaps
Xacto Knife
Cutting Board
Hot Glue and Glue Gun
Roughly 3 feet of cheap clothes line
Clothing Iron
Yardstick (metal preferably)
Pencil
Paint (optional)
Scissors
Butter Knife
Compass

Step 1: Your Box Dimension

The dimensions to the box are roughly as follows in the diagram. And yes, if you add them up they don’t match the max dimension. There is a little fudging for the weird pucker that happens on the pre folds. I couldn't fabricate this out of one box. So I had to empty another box for a small piece of cardboard needed to complete this project....damn.

Step 2: Letter Holder Dimesions

I overlaid the letter holder dimensions over the box dimensions. You will be working on the non-printed side of the box. Draw you lines with pencil as opposed to pen. You will need to erase a couple line segments in the end.

A few areas to note:

The slant on the outer opening sides were generated by an initial measurement of 2" from the right edge of the 7.75" x 5" panel. I measured 1" down (to the left) and drew the angle from there. I don't have a degree measurement, and really you can make the angle more pronounced or non-existent if you felt like it. It's only important that whatever you choose to do is duplicated.

The darker gray area is a duplicate and placed in an open area of the cardboard. It will be used to hide visible printing and for reinforcement.

The panel that will serve as the back of the letter holder initially was measured as a rectangle. 13" x 5". Drawing an line from corner to corner twice on this panel will give you the center of the rectangle. It will also serve to double check your measurements. If they are not the same, something is off somewhere. Once you have drawn an "X" in this panel, get your compass. The arc I used is from the center "X" and top (left) of the panel. As with the side angles, you can modify it to your liking.

Step 3: Cut It Out

With lines drawn, you can cut out your pieces. Black lines indicate cuts. Dotted blue lines indicate folds.

The duplicate arced panel was created by tracing around the bigger design once it was cut out. This panel is where you will need your smaller box. Use an area preferably free of folds since this will be facing out in the finished design.

Don't cut your thumbs off.

Step 4: Pre-fold Your Pieces

Now is the time for pre-folding. Because of the angles and cuts, the folds will lend themselves to folding in the correct way. I didn't have to score these folds. They're smallish and manageable. A lot of paper crafters use a bone or plastic utensil to crease there folds. What in Lucifer's beard for? I found the handle on a butter-knife works dandy, and unless one eats solely with chopsticks, everybody has one.

Step 5: Glue Reinforcements & Some Trimming

Flip you larger piece print side up, indicated in pink-ish. Unprinted side indicated by gray. The duplicate reinforcement pieces will stabilize the final project and hide the printing.

Apply hot-glue to the printed side of the duplicates. Use allot of hot-glue on these reinforcements. Let 'em dry. you'll never get enough glue down before some part of it dries. No worry.

Position reinforcements and apply a clothing Iron to them. It will re-melt the glue in a flat way. So there won't be any weird glue lumps and bumps. Another benefit is that the cardboard will retain heat and allow you to re position items.

While the glue is still hot, re-fold the angled panels. You'll get a tighter fit and the reinforcement will shift a little on the sides. Let it set in this folded position.

Trim excess cardboard once the glue has set. No matter how anal I am about measuring, something sticks out here and there. Give up obsessing about it. A little trimming isn't worth getting aggravated about.

Step 6: More Glue

Re-fold your letter holder to it's final shape. Hot glue the bottom tabs "A" to the front panel. Just match up right angle to right angle.

Hot glue the front 1" side panels "B". Let 'em dry. Position and apply clothing iron. You can manipulate the positioning before the glue sets.

Trim if necessary.

Step 7: Decorate & Mount

Erase visible guidelines from back panel.

Decorate
You could skip this step depending on your taste.

Paint it. Macaroni it...

To dress it up, I used vintage craft paper for decoration.

I didn't care for seeing the edges reinforcements and flaws. I used clothesline to cover these area. This is where your hot gluing skills, patience and sanity are tested. Glue a little clothesline....position...wait....glue a little clothesline...etc.

Keeping the clothesline edges from fraying:
If it's polyester and dark by all means use a lighter and melt it.
I used white so burning the edges really just didn't work.
Apply hot glue to frayed end. Let it start to but not completely set. Give it a little shaping twist or trim. And by all means don't do it as soon as the you squirt it out unless you like getting burned....Suppose some might....hmmm

To mount, two upholstery tacks are all that are required. They are longer and thicker than regulation tacks, so you may need a hammer depending on what you are mounting to.

The second picture shows the finished product with other beer-box organizational items.

NOW REMOVE YOUR CLUTTER...and empty some more boxes