How to Make a Lightweight Table

Small Supports

• 1

  Place a sheet of cardboard flat out on a working space. Draw a 6-inch square on the sheet of cardboard. Use a ruler as a guide to keep the square straight. Cut the square out using a sharp box opening blade.

• 2

  Cut several more 6-inch squares using the square cut in the previous step as a guide to glue lots of the squares together until the stack is 3-inches thick. This is the first small support.

• 3

  Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to make six more small supports. Allow them to dry before handling them.

Large Supports

• 4

  Place a large piece of cardboard flat on the working surface. Use a permanent marker to draw a 2-by-2-foot square on the cardboard. Cut the square out.

• 5

  Trace many more 2-by-2-foot squares onto the cardboard using the 2-by-2-foot square as a template. Cut out the squares. Glue several of the squares together until they are 3-inches thick. This is the first large support.

• 6

  Make eight more large supports using the same method as previously used. Use lots of multipurpose glue to ensure the squares stay together. Allow the glue to dry.

Tabletop

• 7

  Place another large sheet of cardboard out in front of you on the working space. Measure and draw a 2-by-4-foot rectangle on the sheet. Cut the rectangle out.

• 8

  Use the first rectangle as a guide to cut three more the same shape. These pieces increase the thickness of the tabletop.

• 9

  Glue the four pieces of 2-by-4-foot cardboard together to form a thicker tabletop. Set the tabletop aside for later use.

Assembly

• 10

  Place one of the large supports flat on the working surface. Place a small support in the center of the large support. Glue the two supports together with a hot-glue gun.

• 11

  Place a second large support on top of the small support. Line the large support up with the first large support, then glue in place.

• 12

  Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to glue all of the small and large supports together. Together, the long and short supports should be 4 feet long. Allow the glue to dry before moving on to the next step.

• 13

  Place the tabletop on top of the supports. Check that edges are flush with the supports. Trim the supports if needed. Attach the tabletop with hot glue to the top of each of the large supports. Allow the glue to dry completely.