Tutorial: Reinforce a Flimsy Box Container

As promised, I will show you how I made the box stronger using foam board.
The foam board I am using is 1/8'' thick, covered in black paper. I got it from the local dollar store, but Wal-Mart and school supply stores should carry it, as well as most craft stores. I didn't choose the color purposefully, it will be covered up later.
The first thing I did was to trace around the sides of the box, except the front of the box because I'll be cutting that away. It just makes the box sturdier for tracing if it's intact for this step. I traced the back, left and right sides, and top and bottom.

Next, I cut the pieces out using a dull exacto because I had temporarily misplaced my sharp one. This was a mistake, I do not recommend using dull cutting tools. Take care of your tools, as I have found the hard way that a dull knife will not cut foam smoothly! (Hey, this is my first start-to-finish project, so bear with me.)
Cut the pieces about a centimeter inside the lines you drew, so they fit inside the box better. Trial and error says you should do a dry fit first, and trim or miter the top and bottom pieces if you glue in the side pieces first.

Glue in the back piece first, then dry fit each piece before you glue them in, because you will probably need to trim them. I would give measurements, but I want this tutorial to work for any size box. I use a white paper glue for this project because essentially you're gluing paper to paper.

When the pieces are glued in, you have a sturdy roombox or house for your scene. I took the picture sideways to show you that the box I chose can be used for a 1/2" scale roombox. Turning it on it's end will create a narrow 12th scale room, like a closet. I was hoping to fit a dining table and chair in there for my Thanksgiving Dinner scene, but I still have options.

Option #1: I could omit the chair and squeeze in the dining table, leaving lots of room for wall decorations or an illusory window.

Option #2: Change the dining table into a circular kitchen table or a buffet-style table with no place settings or centerpiece.

Option #3: Change to a 1/2" scale scene and have more room than intended, which I could fill in with more chairs and place settings, more decor items, etc.

I haven't actually decided yet. I will decide by Monday when we do the ceiling, wallpaper, trim, and flooring. I've decided on a wood floor, so I need to go pick out some wood stain.

I hope you're having fun with this project, and I hope it illustrates how things don't always end up the way you pictured it, but in miniature it can still work out.