Homemade Egg Cartons

[leighnkylie]

Anyone have any ideas on how you could make homemade egg cartons?

 

[mickey328]

You probably could, but it'd be a lot of work and possibly expense. I get mine off Craig's List and our local Freecycle site. Pretty much anyone who recycles will be happy to save 'em for you, then all you have to do is go get 'em

 

[Horseychicken]

do you buy them off craigslist and ebay?

 

[mickey328]

No, I sure don't. I post on Craig's List as wanted...under the free section. I also joined our local Freecycle organization and posted there. I got 8 of them from one pick up. For the moment that's all we need so I then removed the post. If we need more, I'll just post it again...all it costs is the time and effort to go fetch 'em? I also have friends, neighbors and co-workers save theirs for me.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I would guess a mold or form and paper/fiber pulp to coat it with would be one option. You could also do paper mâché ones over a form. A pourable plastic carton would require a different type of mold. Here are some more ideas:
http://www.ehow.co.uk/way_6330014_homemade-egg-cartons.html

Here's a more stylish and modern take:
http://blog.ounodesign.com/2012/07/...n-by-hungarian-design-student-otilia-erdelyi/

 

[coffeenutdesign]

Maybe buy one of those plastic cartons to use for a mold and then some kind of paper mache?

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't know if you drink coffee, but those red Folgers plastic cans (large size) will hold 2 dozen eggs. I use them to collect may eggs in the coop, and once gave my neighbor eggs in one because I was out of cartons. She said she just put them in the fridge that way and said it was a great container for eggs. They take up little space too.

 

[locke2121]

If you really wanna....step on up and get on your apron cause this is gonna get messy! You'll need a few things...golf balls, a board..hot glue..LOTS OF PAPER...and finally a small, fine mesh hand strainer from the kitchen.

First..go find about a dozen golf balls and hot glue them to a board in a nice 6x6 pattern with about an 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch between them. Be sure to use a big board because again...this is gonna get messy! Also..cover the whole thing with plastic wrap for easy removal...be sure to work it down in between the golf balls.

Second....take a large pot and fill it full of paper...any kind of paper..from newspaper, copier paper...junk mail (take out the plastic windows)...just fill that sucker up...then fill it full of hot water and wait a while. (it helps if you shred the paper first...blender, leaf shredder...doesn't matter)

Sooner or later the fibers in the paper will soften and let go. Stir it up and add more paper...let it sit till it is liquidy again. Keep doing this till you have a thick pulpy mess the consistancy of thin pudding. Now..use the hand strainer and pull it through the pulp. You're gonna get a big wet soggy mess...plop that down over the golf balls and mold it around them, all the way to the board and in between.

Now comes the hard part...waiting! Here is the science of what is happening. At the microscopic level, those paper fibers look like they're made of rough poles covered in fish hooks...As they dry, they tangle together, making one solid whole. This is the same process that makes paper..except after removing the pulp from the water..the pulp is run through heated presses to make it dry alot quicker.

Once it is dry, check to see if it is thick enough. You want about an 1/8 of an inch. about ... that thick. If it isn't, pull out more pulp and mold it over the first set and let dry again.

If it is dry..then gently ease it off the balls. If you used the plastic wrap this is pretty easy. And there you have it..homemade egg cartons. I know they don't have a top...but they still work...and they are handmade! Set them outside for about a week...they'll get stiffer each day.

Don't know if you want to do that much work...but there you go!

 

[rockingbearanch]

I have seen people sew cloth or feed bag egg carriers. Some looked like a basket and some were like an egg carton.

 

[chickpunk]

I'm assuming you don't want to spend money hahah, me either!! This is a design for my eggs that I'm shooting for.