DIY Photo Light Box - my own adventure

I'd wanted my own light box for a while.  I take way too many pictures for this blog.  No picture taken in my kitchen has ever had proper lighting and it drives me crazy.  I read this great post on how to make a light box for next to nothing so I decided to give it a go.  My first light box involved a box from work that used to hold our copy paper (so you can imagine the exact size) and I used all tissue paper, and nothing for the backdrop.  My second adventure included this large box from Home Depot and a white plastic table cloth (in lieu of white poster board).  That second box worked for a while, and you have seen pictures form it.  But it wasn't quite perfect.  It was attempt number 3 that really seemed to work the best.  Fingers Crossed!

This is the second try light box.  The plastic table cloth just never lay quite right.

Materials

• Medium Cardboard Box or one of a similar size.  The boxes that hold copy paper are, in fact, too small.  Sorry.
• Tissue paper for the sides and top of the box
• Freezer paper - it seems to be easier to find in large rolls than poster board
• That cheap white table cloth.
• Duct tape. No project is complete without duct tape.
• Sharpie markers or similar, for writing on the cardboard box and for marking the tablecloth to cut
• A knife that can cut cardboard. Kitchen knives work surprisingly well.
• Scissors for cutting tissue paper and tablecloth
• Clear tape, because duct tape isn't perfect for everything

Procedure: (Taking a moment to thank my 6th grade teacher for drilling into me how to write up an experiment.)

• Put the box together. It's okay to leave one end open.
• Label the all the sides of the box.  The back and the bottom don't get cut out but the top and the sides do.  The front should already be open.
• Cut the cardboard away from the top and both sides of the box, leaving about an inch framework.
• Measure the freezer paper and cut it so that it covers the back and bottom of the box with no crease.
• Wrap the cheap plastic table cloth around the freezer paper.  (You can't believe the crap I put in this box, I need a surface I can wipe off.)
• Attach the freezer paper/plastic to the top of the box, so that it drapes down the back and the bottom.  I used duct tape for this operation.
• Attach tissue paper to the sides and top of the box.  Make your own decision about attaching the tissue paper first versus attaching the backdrop first.  I did it both ways in my various attempts.
• Use a window or lots of lamps or another light source and take lots and lots and lots of pictures!