I had to organize my AA/AAA batteries drawer, and I know there is some batteries organizer available to purchase but they always include space for C and D batteries, that I don't use, so it was a waste of space for me. So I decided to design and build one with an included battery tester and a AA/AAA batteries charger. The best thing, it is almost free to make it since it's made from a cardboard! Want to build one!? Let's get started!

Supplies

To make this project, you will need a cardboard box ( I used a 3mm thick box ) and some construction color paper. Additionally, you can add a AA/AAA charger and a battery tester to this build!

Cardboard Box : I used an Amazon box
Construction Paper : https://amzn.to/3JrUFyG
AA/AAA Batteries Charger : Exact one I used : https://amzn.to/3R9HvZ3
AA/AAA Batteries Charger : This one also fit : https://amzn.to/3RcsRQI
Battery Tester : https://amzn.to/3kNTCz7
Glue Gun : https://amzn.to/3Hi6u7U
Glue Sticks : https://amzn.to/3HCpVdf

Step 1: Cutting Cardboard Pieces

First step is to cut the cardboard box to size. Here you can see in those two pictures all the pieces you will need.

Step 2: Glue Central Part in Place

I start by assembling the central part of the battery organizer tray using hot glue. In this central part, will run the usb wire from the back of the organizer to the AA/AAA batteries charger.

Step 3: Gluing the "inside" Separators Pieces

Once the central part glued in place, I continue assembling other separators on the cardboard board. The size of each compartment is made to fit AAA and AA batteries, and also fit a charger and a tester.

Step 4: Gluing the Contour Pieces

Once all the "inside" separators are glued in place, I glue the cardboard pieces on the contour of the tray. Once it's done, I cut a hole in the back of the tray so the charger's USB wire can go through the central channel.

Step 5: Color Liners to Know Status of Batteries

The goal of this organizer is to obviously organize the batteries, but also to know which batteries need to be recharged and which are ready to be used. I decided to make some liner using construction paper. Red for "to be recharger" and green for "recharged, ready to use". I trace, cut and fold the pieces according to compartment size.

Step 6: Gluing the Liners in Place

Once I have trace, cut and fold the four liner, I fit them inside the compartment and I use a glue stick to secure them in place. Another option would be to paint the inside.

Step 7: How to Ensure a Rotation of the Batteries

A cool feature of my organizer is that the batteries always roll to the front of the tray. This way you ensure a rotation of your batteries. And to do this, it's really simple, I add two strips of thicker cardboard under my batteries organizer, it tilt the tray and the batteries roll to the front by themselves.

Step 8: Installing the Charger and Tested

Now it's time to add the charger in place. Also, I added a battery tester to my batteries organizer to complete this organizer. Here is the charger I used in this project and also a charger that will fit the compartment :

AA/AAA Batteries Charger : Exact one I used : https://amzn.to/3R9HvZ3
AA/AAA Batteries Charger : This one also fit : https://amzn.to/3RcsRQI
Battery Tester : https://amzn.to/3kNTCz7

Step 9: Final Words!

Thank you so much for watching my instructables! I really think this is a great project to organise your AA/AAA batteries. It's an easy project to make, from free cardboard. Having my batteries organized really help when I need to reach for fresh batteries. I just dump the drained ones into the "red" compartment, and take some fresh from the "green" compartment. Time to time, when my fresh batteries are running low, I took some time to recharge the drained ones.

Hope it can give you some ideas to organise your batteries.

I see you next time!

-- Your Cardboard Ninja! 🥷