Upcycle Design: Milk Carton Wallet

Wallet - milk carton

What you need: milk carton

The paper used for milk carton is high grade heavy weight paper. It's even laminated for water proofing. The lamination makes it harder to recycle them. But why just throw them away? It's a perfect material for making useful items.

This is a little more complicated project but worth a try!

Materials:

milk carton - 2 to 3
velcro (with sticky back, color of your choice)

Tools:

micron pen (or any fine pointed water based ink pen)
exacto knife
ruler (for majoring)
streight edge (for cutting)
prepared chopstick (for scoring folding groove on the paper)
erasor
craft glue (the one that works for paper and wood, Sobo Glue, Elmer's Glue-All etc.)
block (for weight for glueing)
wood sheet
cutting mat (or any smooth flat surface for cutting)
news paper (as a protective sheet for your table from glueing job)


1.Tools needed for the job. The red China marker is actually not necessary. The marks made with water based pen can be erased with an erasor thanks to the lamination on the paper.	2. The point of bamboo chopstick is carved to make a blunt point suitable for scoring the folding groove on the paper.	3. Glue and news paper. Sobo Glue and Elmer's Glue-All work pretty good.	4. Block and a sheet of wood to keep the presser on for secure glue job.	5. Two milk cartons are needed for a simple wallet. If you are adding the coin purse on it you'll need one more.

6. Cut the sides of the carton vertically with an exacto knife.Leave more than 1 cm from the side you want to use. In this case I am using the side I am holding with left hand.	7. Cut out the bottom.This is the side I am using. This will be the inside of the wallet. We are not using the other piece for this project.	8. Put the ruler just inside of the top seam line.	9. Cut off the top.	10. Both top and bottomes are trimed.

11. Backside.	12.Mark two lines 1cm from the folding edges	13. Draw a line in the center of the paper. Draw another two lines 1cm inside from the edges of the paper.	14 . Mark five more lines next to the center line keeping 2mm gaps inbetween. These lines will be the folding of the wallet. In this case I marked asinmetlically to accomodate the thickness of the coin purse. If you are not including the coin purse you will mark sinmetlicality and probably need fewer lines.	15. Mark diagonal lines at the four corners of the paper.

16. Cut out along the lines and trim the paper down as you see on the picture.	17. Backside.	18. Score the six center lines from the back side using the ruler and the tip of sharpened chopstick.	19. Fold the paper at the score lines with your finger nail.	20. The paper will fold nicely like this.

21. Cut two lines about 1cm from the center line.	22. It should fold like this now.	23. Note the paper is folded unevenly and one side is longer than the other.	24. This difference in length will accomodate the sicness of the coin purse. You'll leave this piece aside for a while or jump to 43.	25. The other piece is not usable for this project because the seam of the box will make the life of the wallet shorter. If you don't care about it and do not want to wast another carton, you can use this part.

26. This is another reason that I don't use this piece. The overlaped paper on the seam of the box will make the wallet more bulky and less clean.	27. Take a new carton and cut it like this. Leave more than half of the both sides. This piece will be the outside of the wallet.	28. Draw lines like this. I drew 9 center folding lines.	29. The other side of the carton.	30. Cut the paper out along the lines.

31. Backside.	32. Using the ruler and the chopstic score the ines.	33. fold the paper and score the lines again.	34. Fold the lines with your nail.	35. The paper fold nicely.

36. Scrach the plastic lining with the tip of the exacto. Scrach two pararell lines.	37. Peel off the plastic lining with the exacto.	38. Peel away the strip of the plastic lining with your fingers. Repeat this process from 36. and work away strip by strip untill you strip the inside of the box. Leave only the tubs onthe both sides.	39. Apply the glue where you stripped.	40. Smooth out the glue.

41. Fold the top and bottom and glue them togather.	42.Apply pressure using flat surfaces and a weight. Leave it more than 4 hours.	43. Go back to the other piece you put aside. Fold the tubs and mark the edges.	44 . Mark the lines as you see in the picture.	45. Place the ruler just slightly inside of the marked line.

46. Scrache the plastic lining with the exact.	47. Scrape off the lining. Scrape off the back of the bottom two tubs and inside of the three other tubs where they muches with the lines you just drew in 44.	48. Now it is ready to glue.	49. Three tubs are glued togather. The bootom piece will be the inside of the wallet. The two tubs of the bottom piece will be glued to the upper piece.	50. Back sides.

51. Take the upper piece ( the one that will be the outside of the wallet) and peel off where the tubs of the bottom piece will be glued on.	52. Now the both pieces are ready to be glued togather.	53. Backsides. Note that the right and left edes of the upper piece are also peeled.	54. Apply the glue.	55. Smooth out the glue.

56. Clamp the pieces togather for more than 4 hours. Work one side at a time.	57. Now it's done! You can see the bottom of the wallet.	58. View from the other side.	59. Bottom view.	60. Top view. It has enough space for your $$.

61. You can add the coin purse to the walled and glue them togather.	62. Un eaven folding the wallet accomodates the coin purse neatly.	63. With paper money and coins.	64. With paper money and coins.	65. With money and coins it still folds nicely.