How to Make a Desk Cubby to Organize Your Coupons

Back in the 1970s, when extreme couponing was in its infancy, paper mache art objects were very popular. Outdated grocery store coupons, magazine 'cents off' deals and the old yellowing newspaper cutouts were transformed into household furnishings and gifts for family members or friends. Paper mache craft projects can also be sold for profits.

Paper mache craft projects are made through layering scraps of unwanted paper around an interesting cardboard form. Outdated coupons and unwanted newspapers make excellent paper mache craft materials. Strong desk cubby units with spaces to organize coupon-sized piles of papers are easily made from your heaps of outdated paper scraps.

How To Make A Desk Cubby For Couponing:

Gather 1. Free cardboard boxes are cut to size and strapped together with masking tape.

Coupons for money-off deals on masking tape products are easily found online at:

~ The Find / http://www.thefind.com/office/browse-3m-scotch-masking-tape

~ Free Post Office Priority Mail 8" square boxes or discarded cereal boxes can be found in your home or around your neighborhood.

Gather 2. Paper mache glue is created from flour and water or cheap liquid laundry starch.

Betty Crocker often offers Gold Medal Flour coupons at:

~Betty Crocker / http://www.bettycrocker.com/coupons-promotions/coupons/default

The Dial Corporation often offers coupons for their soap products and Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch at:

~ StayFlo Starch / http://www.staflostarch.com/

~ Dial Soap / http://www.dialsoap.com/

Paper Mache Flour Recipe:

Heat one-cup flour and about four cups of water in a pan on your stove. Stir constantly. When the mixture starts to boil, turn off the heat and keep stirring for about three-minutes. Let the mixture cool. Store the unused mixture in an air-tight container or large-size Zip-Loc baggie.

Baggie coupons can be found at:

~ SC Johnson / http://www.scjohnson.com/en/products/coupons.aspx

Tip: If fresh paper mache mixture or stored mixture develops lumps, toss this food product into your blender and zap those lumps into submission.

Tip: Humid climates should reduce water by one cup and add a teaspoon of salt to prevent mildew problems.

Desk Cubby Step One: Gather 6 eight-inch square mailing boxes or 12 cereal boxes. Pile into the form of a desk caddy, and cut to the desired depth. Save the flaps from the postal mailing boxes to use as shelves inside of each cubbyhole. More or less boxes can be used to create a tall or wide desktop cubby for a custom fit.

Desk Cubby Step Two: Cover all desk cubby box parts along the cut edges with strips of unwanted coupons, magazines or newspapers. Dip each strip of paper into the paper mache formula or liquid laundry starch. Hold the dripping strip over a bowl and remove the excess formula by running the slimy paper mache strip between two fingers.

Desk Cubby Step Three: Cover all desk cubby box parts inside and out with one layer of unwanted couponing papers that have been ripped into strips. Overlap the paper mache paper edges slightly to ensure an overall covering. Let dry overnight.

Desk Cubby Step Four: Use masking tape to strap the boxes together into the desired desk cubby shape. Tape mailing box flaps into position as desk cubby shelves, inside of each shipping box being used.

Desk Cubby Step Five: Cover your desk caddy inside and out with another layer of slightly overlapping paper strips that have been dipped into your paper mache formula. Let dry overnight.

Desk Cubby Step Six: Add a final layer of paper mache strips to your desk caddy. Whenever possible, this layer should be made from the unwanted coupons that were printed onto computer paper. Place the printed side down to achieve a white surface for painting. Strips of brown paper grocery bags were the traditional final layer on paper mache projects that were made by coupon collectors in the 1970s.

Desk Cubby Step Seven: All the desk cubby to dry for one week to ensure that moisture will not be trapped inside of the papers. Cover the paper mache desk caddy with paints, varnish, thin styles of wood flooring tiles cut to fit or fun designer fabrics to achieve a decorator look. The paper mache desk caddy is very strong and will last for decades.

Recycling unwanted coupon papers into paper mache works of art can be done slowly over time as new unwanted coupon papers become available. Simply paper mache the coupon strips to boxes each time that the mood hits. In time, you can create full-size bookcases, wall storage units or helpful desktop caddies with the right sized nooks to hold all of your money-off coupons and mail-in rebate papers. Paper mache coupon artwork is the fun or profitable way to participate in recycling our natural resources.