I have a thing for outdated tech…a wall-mounted rotary phone with a cord? Give me them all. Film cameras with bellows? I can’t resist. Typewriters? Yes and yes. And some might say that crafting one out of cardboard is as useful as owning a vintage one—neither actually work so why not design your own?
I made this super-fun DIY cardboard typewriter for Camp.com. In order to make one, you kind of have to be a recyclable hoarder—a shoebox, a paper towel roll, a cereal box, and some jar lids.
What you’ll need:
- What you’ll need:
- Shoebox (big kid size or larger)
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Duct tape
- 2 bendy straws
- 1 skewer
- Cardboard tube (paper towel or wrapping paper)
- 2 matching jar lids
- Black paint and paintbrush
- Tacky glue
- Glue stick
- Template
- Cereal box
- Mounting squares
- Black plastic lid
- Q-tips
- Black paint
Make it:
1/ To create the sloped face of your typewriter, you have to cut the bottom half of the box on a slope. Measure 1 ½ to 2 inches from the bottom of the box and make a mark on the two front corners. Connect these points by drawing a line across the front and lines up the side diagonally to the top edge of the box’s bottom.
2/ Cut the box on these lines and cut off the rim of the box lid. Save the extra cardboard for Step 5.
3/ Fold the top of the box lid down and tape it on the three open sides (or four is your shoebox is not the hinged type.
4/ Cover the box in duct tape or a strong, colored masking tape. You may need to apply multiple layers to cover any logos.
5/ Cut 2 1 ½ -by-4-inch rectangles from the extra cardboard from Step 2. Cut two divots in the cardboard that fit the tube. (If your tube needs to be cut down, make sure it is about 1 inch wider than the box.)
6/ Cover them with tape, then tape them to the top sides of the box; trim the corner to follow the sloped line of the box.
7/ Paint cardboard tube black; let dry.
8/ Break skewer to match the width of the box. Bend your straws and trim the long ends to the length of the skewer; slip them over the skewer. Tape the short ends of the straws to the top corners of the shoebox typewriter.
9/ Glue the jar lids to the ends of the painted cardboard tube; let dry.
10/ Print out keyboard template and use a glue stick to attach to the inside of a cereal box. (Choose your punctuation marks and emojis!)
11/ Cut out the keys and adhere them to the typewriter box using cut mounting squares.
12/ Cut plastic lid (we used a tennis ball can lid) in half and glue one piece to the center of the typewriter along the top edge. (Save the other half for another project!)
Break Q-tips in half and dip the ends in black paint. Let them dry on wax paper. Glue them around the rim of the plastic lid from step 12.
Who knows? This may be the start of the next great American novel!
