I will show you how to make a Mario Coin Brick Coin Bank. Materials needed (please check # of the labels) & materials I've used for this project:

01) #6 Countersink drill bit (save the rest for other projects), two packs of 3 sided Corner Braces (2 per pack, 4 total corner braces)*
02) 100 pcs. of #6 x 1/2" screws**
03) 2" hole saw
04) #6 x 1/2" screws 4pc***
05) 1/4" Torque Driver Bit set
06) Torque Driver (part of the set)
07) Dremel 300 series
08) 4 pc L braces****
09) 1 pack of #6 x 1" screws (12 pcs / pack)
10) 3/32" Drill Bit marked with masking tape
11) Elmer's Wood Filler
12) Dremel Router Plunger for the Dremel 300 series
13) Dremel 1/8" Straight Router Bit (Dremel 650)

* Corner braces joins 3 boards at a time.
** 100 pcs #6 screws are easier to handle with a magnetic tip screwdriver
*** #6 4pc screws shown in picture can't be picked up with a magnetic tip screwdriver.
**** L braces join ONLY 2 sides

Attached are the blueprints on what the measurements are and how the assembly should look like

Step 1: Cutting the Particle Board

Start with the 2' x 4' x 1/2" board and cut 6 boards. Here are the dimensions of 3 boards. Just make another set.

1st - 6" x 6"
2nd - 7" x 7"
3rd - 7" x 6"

So you should have 2 sets of 6x6, 7x7 and 6x7 inch boards.

In addition, please cut four smaller blocks at the following sizes:

(4) 2" x 3/4" x 1/2"

Step 2: Drilling and Mounting

Here comes the fun part:

Take one of the 6x6 inch boards and print on cardstock the template in the intro for the coin exit. Make a few copies in case you mess up. The one show in the picture is a different template but the measurements are the same.

Tape the template over the 6x6 inch board and proceeed with the hole saw and drill out the center. All templates that require drilling were designed to have center points to make drilling easier.

Use the #6 countersink drill bit and drill deep enough to create a concave hole. Also with the hole saw, please use a variable speed drill and cut the hole. Once you feel that you're deep enough, go at high speed and cut through the board. If you feel you're stuck, pull out the hole saw from the board, flip the board on the other side and begin cutting the hole on that side until you cut through.

Once you cut through, if there are any protruding within the ring, get sandpaper and sand it down. Using a lid I grabbed from a mailing tube, the dimension is 2" in diameter so it fits 2" drilled hole perfectly. However, in case you feel that the lid is too loose and falls out when you turn it over, add a layer of masking tape around the border of the lid. For my lid, it took to layers of masking tape to make the lid stay snug. Place the lid back into the hole and cut the excess tape.

Step 3: Drilling and Mounting Part 2

Please note, please use the #6 countersink drill bit for the time being. I will let you know when to use the 3/32" drill bit. When drilling with the countersink drill bit, just drill partially down until the countersink touches the board. You don't want to create any type of bevels at this point.

Grab the other 6x6 inch board and on one corner, trace out the design of the 3 sided corner brace and pre drill the holes as shown in the picture. Also to make things easier, once you have the pre drill holes, insert the screws (see picture) to widen the holes making the mounting process much easier.

Mount the 3 sided corner bracer onto the 6x6 board.

Grab 6 x7 inch board and align it with the 6x6 to make a perfect L. Repeat process of mounting the board and you should have the 2nd side done.

Next align the two sides on the corner 7x7 inch board. Again, repeat the mount process and you should now have 3 sides mounted. You know if you have mounted it correctly when you turn over the boards and they form a corner of a cube.

Now with one sides of the corners done, align the next brace on the 2nd corner of the 6x6 board so that the 1/2" depth of the 6x6 and the side of the brace are even. Use a pencil and make an outline on where to drill and where the brace should go. Then mount that brace onto the 6x6. Trace circles again for the pre-drilled holes. Trace the mounting circles on the 7x7. Unmount the 7x7 board (if necessary) and pre-drill the holes again and pre-fit the screws. Finish off the 7x7 board and mount it to the brace.

With the 6x6 side facing down and the two corner braces on the top two corners, align the 6x7 so that it makes a perfect L shape with the 7x7 board. Outline that corner the 6x7 board with the holes, pre drill and pre fit the holes with the screws.

Use your fingers to twist in the screws until it gets tight. Attach a 1/4" Phillips drill bit to the 1/4" torque driver and use that to screw in the remainder portion of the screw.

Align the last two corner bracers and trace out the outline of the brace and the screw placement. Unmount the 6x7 sidie 1, pre drill and pre fit it with screws. Re mount 6x7 side 1 and insert all the screws for the braces. Tighten the screws with the torque driver.

Once all four sides have been properly mounted, grab the 2nd 7x7 board. Align it with both 6x7 sides to form a square. Using a small pencil, outline the frame of the last two braces you've installed. Drill and pre fit the screws. Align the last 7x7 board and use your fingers to partially tighten the screws. Finally tighten all the screws with the torque driver.

When you have the five sides attached, insert the other 6x6. If the boards are not perfectly cut (mine wasn't perfectly cut), the board won't fit right. Therefore, rotate the last 6x6 board until it fits with no noticeable gaps (don't worry about the gaps. It's the bottom portion and it won't be seen). Note the orientation of the last piece by placing an arrow on the adjacent piece. Now you know how the face should be placed after everything is finished.

Stand the cube up so the 6x6 is face you. Using the coin slot template (file is in the intro), use a razor blade and cut the hole in the template. Cut the template down to size (template in the picture is old, newer one has a frame for easier aligning) and place it on top of the 6x6 board. Tape the edges of the template (if necessary) to keep it from moving. Use a pencil and trace the slot. Using the Dremel with the router plunger attachment and the 1/8" straight router bit, carefully go back and forth following the slot you just traced.

Don't worry about the slot being jagged. Just sand one side, flip the sand paper around and sand the other side.

Once you finished the slot, take off one of the 7x7 boards.

Step 4: Drilling and Mounting Part 3

Time to mount the blocks along with L braces.

Stand the small block vertically on a leveled surface and use the L brace and align it with the leveled surface and the small block. trace the holes and pre drill it. Do this for all four blocks. Please note: do not pre fit with the screw! It will break the block!

Unmount the 6x7 side 1 board. Look for the non-drilled area and measure a 1/2" along the edge. Draw a line for guidance. Lay the block on the 3/4 side. The holes with the smaller margin should face the edge. Align the block with the line leaving a 1/2" space and clamp it down. Now using the taped off 3/32" drill bit, drill through the block UNTIL you reach the tape so you don't drill through both the block and the board.

Once you've drilled the holes through the block, use a screwdriver, place the L brace over the block and screw two #6 1" screws all the way down until you see a small bit of it stick out. That will make it easier to find and mount to the 6x7 board. Align the block with the screws in place to the 6x7 board. Once you align, it, use a drill or screwdriver and fasten it all the day down. Repeat with the 2nd block on the opposite end on the same 6x7 board. Mount the 6x7 board back to the main board via corner braces. When the 6x7 is mounted, align the top of the 6x7 with the top of the 7x7 so they converge and form a perfect corner. When they are aligned, trace circles on the 7x7 where the L brace is touching. Don't drill yet.

Next. take the 6x7 side 2 board off and repeat the process of adding the blocks with L braces. Again, when it's remounted, trace circles on the 7x7.

Once you have both 6x7 completely finished, you can either drill holes thorough the L brace or take the each 6x7 side off one by one and then drill the holes. After the holes have been created, insert the 1/2 inch screws to mount the 7x7 board to both the L braces.

Next rest the 4 sided box on the other 7x7 board you placed aside earlier. Make sure every corner is aligned and then use a pencil to outline the L braces and drill locations. Take the 7x7 board and drill the holes and pre-fit them with screws.

After adding the corner and L braces and mounting the blocks and boards, you should have 5 sides of the box completed.

Position the arrow on the 6x6 coin exit board with the the arrow and place it on top of blocks. It should sit firmly on top of them. Next, with the pre drilled holes already created earlier, insert four #6 1 inch screw in each hole and fasten them to the wooden blocks. As I mentioned in the picture, the center holes on the blocks were created from the mounted 6x6 coin exit.

Now you're done with the box and it's time to paint it.

Step 5: Filling the Gaps

Notice all the gaps on 3 sides? Gaps from the two 6x7 boards and 6x6 slot. Time to use the wood filler.

Take a putty knife and use the Elmer's Wood Filler and fill in all the gaps. My boards that I cut aren't a perfect straight cut and you may see some uneven edges in the pictures. The wood filler can fix that issue as well.

For the 6x7 boards, just fill in the gaps and use the putty knife to pave it flat. For the coin slot, cover all areas.

Once all the wood filler has dried and hardened, sand down all areas with excess wood filler to make it flat.

Step 6: Painting Sides

Using a ruler and mark 1/2 inches from the edges. Place painter's tape for 5 of the 6 edges (bottom will not be painted) forming a 1/2 inch border for all 5 edges.

For one of the 7x7 side, cover everything up because that will be painted a different color and pattern. It should still have the 1/2 inch border as well.

I've used red spray paint to cover 4 sides of the box. I don't recommend using spray paint because two things happened to me AFTER it had dried. First, air bubbles formed when I was sprayed the paint. Second, too much paint came out at one time so when i sprayed the sides, paint dripped along the sides and dried. Due to a time constraint and a long process, I don't want to waste time with that problem.

Anyways, I've decide from that point on to use an airbrush.

Place the template pver the coin slot. For all the templates used in painting, I measured it accordingly so that it fits just right on top of each side.

Since this is my only box, I've messed up in the painting when I used the black paint for the airbrush. How? I didn't tape it correctly and part of the paint seeped underneath the template. Therefore the paint came out uneven.

For the next side, I decided to tape down the entire side. I reused the template for the coin slot top took a ruler and a razor and traced over the template. Using the razor and a pair of pliers, I carefully peeled of the sliced pieces of tape. It is now ready to be painted. Using black paint, airbrush over the lines you have created. Let it dry and then carefully peel off the painter's tape. The finished side should now look like an actual layer of bricks.

Please repeat that for the two remaining sides. There is one more but it's a 7x7 side that's covered up.

Step 7: Painting Final Side

For the final 7x7 side which was originally covered up all the way, print out the question mark template on card-stock. Print at least 4 of them because you will be using a pair of templates and the 2nd pair in case you mess up.

With one question mark, use a razor and cut the 'top' layer of the question mark. Take the 2nd question mark and cut the 'bottom' layer of the question mark.

Place the 'top' layer question mark over the 7x7 side. Use a razor and cut along the template. Please use the cuts from the top layer as guidelines on where to cut the bottom layer. Again, carefully cut along the template. Once you're done, carefully peel off all the tape
except the 'top' and 'bottom' layer.

The final layout should match the question mark template.

To give it a realistic gaming look, I used gold paint and airbrushed the exposed region.

When the gold paint dries, peel off the 'top' layer tape an then re-tape the entire 7x7 board. Place the question mark template over and trace the top layer with the razor again.This time, instead of keeping the top layer, carefully peel the top layer off and then airbrush it with red paint. Let everything dry and carefully peel off everything once again including the bottom layer.

Repeat the process over for the bottom layer. Add the template and then cut and remove the bottom layer. Airbrush it with black paint and let it dry..

Once everything dries, carefully peel off the tape. All the paint is actually acrylic and if you're not careful, you will peel off the layer and will have to repaint it again.

Step 8: Painting the Edges

Finally the last part of the project is painting the 1/2 inch black border for all the sides.

Grab your friendly painter's tape and start 1/2 inch from the edge since you already have it taped up. Use several strips until you reach the bottom. Leave a 1/2 inch spacing since you already taped it earlier. Do that for all 5 sides.

To make things easier, print out the brick or question mark template it doesn't matter. Both templates have a border around the main image. The larger border is 7x7 inches which is exactly the same size as our project. Print one out on card-stock and cut the inside image out leaving the border.

Tape that border to the box and use a ruler to guide you while you use a razor to trace along the border. Do that for all five sides.

Airbrush the black paint all around the edges.

Let the paint dry for a few minutes and then slowly peel off all of the tape. Note: The airbrush paint is acrylic and when it dries it may leave a very thin and delicate sheet of paint on the box. If you've applied too much pressure applying the tape, you may peel off some of the paint. This happened to me and I had to either repaint the detail or touch up some areas where only part of the paint has been peeled off.

And finally, to those who want to build this project, have a lot of patience because you may encounter problems somewhere down the line and may just want to scrap the project. Don't give up and ENJOY!!!

Happy Building!!!