Small Leather Crafting Bins for Less Than $8

I've been getting into leather crafting for a few months now, and having gathered a few tools and supplies now, I am having trouble keeping things organized. Coming from a woodworking and fabrication background, i drew up plans to make several bins from a scrap piece of plywood. The total build only took about 2 hours, with only hand tools used.

Tools required:

Saw of some sort

Hot glue gun

Materials required:

3mm craft plywood

Tape

Stain/sealer

Step 1: Gather the Troops

First, choose your materials. I used some 3mm plywood i found from a local woodshop's scrap pile. I also included a picture with the rough sketch of the bins, sorry that pic is so fuzzy. The bins ended up being 8 inches long, 3.5 inches wide, and 1.5 inches tall. I cut everything with a hacksaw with a metal blade, and it worked perfectly because the plywood was so thin. Afterwards, the pieces were cleaned up and deburred with some light sanding.

Step 2: Formation

After the parts have been cutout, they need to be laid out like the first photo, then taped together like the second photo. Next, fold all the sides upright and tape the sides together, but only on the inside as well. There will be a gap around the outside edges, but that will be filled with hot glue in the next step.

Step 3: Marching On

On this step, you are going to put a dab of hot glue on every corner first, starting at the top, then run a bead along the edges. You need to make sure to put enough glue to fill the gap entirely, otherwise when its trimmed off the edge won't be smooth. Some light sanding helps a lot with the appearance of the glue, and prepares the wood for staining and varnish. I used a classic grey stain and a semi gloss finish from Minwax. After the last coat of polyurethane, the bins were finished with a fine steel wool and the dividers were hot glued in place.

Step 4: Fit and Finish

And there you have it. On one, I incorporated a removable panel with magnetic tape to hold sewing needles and drill bits for easy access. The cost for the whole project was minimal, because everything was already on hand, and I do like how the grey finish turned out. A roughly 15x24 inch piece of plywood yielded 3 small bins and dividers for virtually nothing. This is my first instructable, so sorry if this guide isn't up to snuff. Have a great day!