Milk cartons are awesome. They need to hold liquid so they are waterproof and super sturdy. I use them in crafting all the time, like making milk carton hats. So when I found out that you can actually make a furniture out of milk cartons, I was all game. Last time I was in Japan, I took my daughter to the city-run indoor play centre. There, I saw these really cute handmade kids stools/poufs. I was so surprised when I found out that they were made out of milk cartons! And ever since, it has been on mind to make one myself.
Almost three years later (yeah, I know) I finally got myself to make one, except, it's not a pouf but a table. We already have enough poufs and chairs to sit on so I figured I'm better off making a table instead. It's very easy to make the table, the challenging bit is to collect 24 empty milk cartons! I think it took me 3-4 months just to collect all 24.
Materials
24 x empty milk cartons
Strong tape
Scissors
Old newspaper/magazine
Cardboard
Fabric
Wood panel
Optional: Double-sided tape, tape
How to Make a Milk Carton Table
Step 1 - Using scissors, cut and spread each milk caron as shown below.
Step 2 - Tape the milk carton to form a triangular prism. Fill each with old newspaper/magazine and tape the ends.
Step 3 - Once you have repeated step 1 and 2 for all 24 milk cartons, tape them together to form a hexagon (hexagonal prism).
Step 4 - In order to make the bottom of the hexagonal prism even, cut out the same hexagonal shape using a carboard and glue or tape it to the bottom.
Step 5 - Cover the bottom and sides of the table with a fabric of your choice. I decided to use a blue felt sheet for the bottom and made a quilt to cover the sides. I had a few fabric scraps so making a quilt worked for me but you can just use the same fabric for everything. I sewed the quilt and felt together, but you can also use a double-sided tape.
Step 6 - Below is what the top of the table looks like. I used the double-sided tape to tape the remaining side fabric to the top.
Step 7 - My husband helped me cut a wood panel to match the top hexagonal shape. I added a layer of paint to it but this is optional.
Step 8 - Once the wood panel was dry, I simply used my hot glue gun to attach the panel to the rest of the table.
What do you think? My daughter loves using the table for her tea party! It's not The Tiger Who Came to Tea but The Sloth Who Came to Tea!
