This is a really simple but rather nice project, which can be built in a few hours and with stuff laying around. But besides it's simplicity it is a great gift idea and a project you'll be happy about every day! If you want to built one for yourself watch the video first, it will explain everything.

Step 1: Gather Materials and Tools

Materials:

scrap wood (you can use pretty much annything - I used an old cutting board for this ;) )
a USB-drive
some oil for the finish (or anything else)

Tools:

a chisel
an electrical sander
sandpaper (for manual cleanup)
a saw (scroll-saw or small handsaw)
a drill if you want to make the dowel-version)
some wood-glue

Now we can begin the project

Step 2: Cutting the Wood

First you need to pry open the USB-drive enclosure. Mine came apart pretty easily.

Then cut the boards to size. They should overlap the stick gently but not to much. You can use a stack of different boards, or one block. If you decide to make the enclosure from one whole block of wood, you have to cut the block in half now.

You can round of the backside now

Step 3: Fit the USB-drive Inside the Wood-block

You can use the USB-drive as a reference for the slot that has to be cut in the middle piece. If you want to use one block you have to chisel out the cavity, or use a cnc-machine if you are super fancy ;). I recommend to use a soft wood for the middle, because it will be easier to cut a slot in it.

Always check the fit of the USB-stick. It should be a snug fit, but the upper and lower half should touch. If they don't touch make the cavity in the middle a bit bigger.

Step 4: Glue It Together

Before you glue the stick together, you have to sand the front side down, because later the plug will be in the way. Just clamp the pieces together and sand them down. They don't have to be super-smooth, because we will sand the front side manually after the stick is assembled, but big dents or scratches are difficult to remove in that state...

After sanding down the front-side you can assemble the whole stick. I would recommend to use some tape to cover the metal plug of the USB-drive to prevent glue from getting onto it. I used wood-glue for the wood and a bit of general-purpose adhesive to fix the stick to the wood. Clamp it down and let it dry for a few hours.

Step 5: Adding a Dowel (optional)

For one stick we decided to add a dowel in the backside to make it visually more interesting. For this we drilled a hole through the back-side of the wooden case and stuck a wooden dowel through. We cut it flush and sanded it down. This step is optional, so if you don't like it simply skip it..

Step 6: Sanding...

Now there is a lot of sanding, the most favorite part of woodworking...

Start with the roughest sandpaper and the highest power setting to get to the main shape. Then gradually use smoother sandpaper to make it smooth...

If there are any holes in the wood you can use wood-filler to get around it.

Lastly go over it manually with a very high-grit sandpaper to make it really smooth

Step 7: Finish

Lastly you have to add the finish, we used oil, but you can use spray-lacker, or anything...

if you have made your own USB-device, we would be very happy if you like this video and submit your own creation. Also if you have ideas for future projects please leave a comment.

Anyway I hope your USB-stick looks nice and you did enjoy the building process. Bye!