As a sidenote, I did this for Reese with some waste cardboard:
It worked fairly well, lots of Elmer’s glue, a couple screws, and some jute rope. She appears to like it, but as always, improvement is iterative.
First, I want to get the cardboard to a more consistent size. While variation is okay vertically, horizontal variation is a hassle when mounting. This might be my next die cutter project. Milling cardboard isn’t hard, but my workmanship left something to be desired.
Next, the final binding is pretty janky. (I just had to add janky to my phone’s dictionary.) I pre glued five rough cut pieces of cardboard together at a time then did a terrible final trim.to finish, I used more cardboard to make a wrap a couple layers thick of long strips of cardboard. These strips were glued and held in place with sewing pins. This was finished with the aforementioned screws acting as anchors for the jute to be wrapped around and tightened up. Next time, if I die cut the cardboard, with anchor holes going through ask the layers. This way I could bring it all together with the mess. I think a solid wood outer would be preferable as well.
Luckily for me the Wif liked it so much, I’ll probably get the chance to do it again.