Cardboard Square Basket

Learn how to weave your own square basket - all out of cardboard!

Easy to make in only ten minutes or less!

It may look like this basket has a lot of steps but they are only for clarity.

What You'll Need
5 x 14 inch piece of thin cardboard
Paper cutter
Ruler
Pencil
Tape
A clean surface

With your pencil, mark each quarter-inch on both of the 5-inch long sides of the piece of cardboard.

Cut out twenty long strips from the 5 x 11 piece of cardboard, using the quarter-inch pencil markings as a guide.

Take five of the strips and place them parallel to each other. The length from the first strip to the fifth strip should be three inches. Place tape on both ends of the strips.

Find the middle of the third strip and place a dot there. The middle should be seven inches down the strip.

Take another five strips and weave them through the first five strips as shown in the picture below.

Remove the tape from both ends of the first five strips and fold up the strips on all four sides. These strips will now be called ribs.

Take one strip and place one end behind a rib. Weave it over and under the ribs, going around the base of the basket. It helps to tape the beginning of the first strip to a rib. Once you get to the end of the first layer, stick it under one of the ribs. The first layer is always the hardest so don't give up.

Start the next layer on a side other than the one you started on. If you used tape to secure your first layer, then remove it now. Continue weaving the rest of the strips.

Once you finish weaving all of the strips, cut the ribs so that an inch is left at the top of each one. Fold the ribs that go over the last layer and tuck them under the third to last layer. Cut the ribs that go under the last layer. Now you're done!

The basket you've made is strong enough to support over ten pounds of weight!