By Noreen Doll.
Create a free cereal box magazine holder.
When you’ve been crafting for a while you start to accumulate magazines, and eventually you need a place to keep them.
Recycling your cereal boxes to make magazine files helps you be green as well as creative. And it’s a great way to store and preserve your issues.
These would be handy for holding kid’s picture books, too.
Small boxes can also hold small books.
These magazine holders are quick and easy to make, and you can make them any size for any magazine.
All you need to do is find a box about the size of the magazine you want to store.
I used a small cracker box for the tutorial because a small box is easier to photograph, but the method is the same for any size box.
Materials.
1 Cereal or Cracker Box
Ruler
Scissors
Pencil
Scoring Tool
White Glue
How to Make a Cereal Box Magazine Holder.
1. Cut the top flaps off the empty box.
2. On one end of the box measure up 3 to 5 inches from the bottom and draw a line across.
For these boxes, I used 3 inches for the small box and 4 inches for the large box.
You want to leave the front edge short enough to get magazines in and out easily, but tall enough to hold the magazines in place.
Cut out the piece of the box above the line.
3. Draw a light line from where you cut off the panel to the opposite top corner.
Score firmly on this line.
4. Fold the diagonal flap to the inside along the score line.
Crease firmly to make the flap lie as flat as possible.
On smaller boxes the flap is sometimes too large to fit. So fold it in and crease where there is an excess of cardboard and cut this piece off. Trim until it fits.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the other side of the box.
6. Working with one flap at a time, fold it out and put white glue on the inside of the flap.
Fold the flap back in and put weights on it to make sure the flap adheres to the inside of the box.
7. After 30 minutes, turn the box over and glue the other flap to the inside.
Let dry for about 30 minutes. Folding and gluing the flap makes a sturdier box than cutting the flap off.
The cereal box magazine holder is ready to be used.
These will line up nicely on a book shelf, and may be covered with decorative paper to look more attractive.
If you are going to have several of these cereal box magazine holders side by side, you only need to cover the front of the holder with decorative paper, as the sides won’t show.
And if you use these boxes to store magazines for several years, the cereal boxes will become vintage if they aren’t covered.
© Noreen Doll

Jenn says
Great idea!
Paula says
Genius! New follower. Thanks. ~ Paula
Tara says
What a great idea! Love it!
Katy says
I love seeing things being re-used like this!! 🙂
katie goldsworthy says
Oh so clever! You could even cover them in different papers. Thanks for sharing at Monday Funday!
anezinis says
very good idea!!!I will make it for the magazines to my litle son!
thanks for sharing
Rachel Kaylynn says
What a brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing. I’m pinning it and am definitely going to try soon too.
bj says
OMYGOSH…these are wonderful. I am a magazineaholic and have tons…this is a wonderful idea…and I even like the cereal box, as is, instead of covering with paper.
Thanks for this great tip…
Guess I’d better follow you so I won’t miss anything. :))
Come see me when you can….xo
Lisa says
My Mother used to make these back in the 70’s. She would cover them in a pretty contact paper or leftover wallpaper. Either way, it’s a great way to recycle.
Angela says
I love this idea! I have food magazines that need a home and this would be perfect.
Marie says
Wonderful idea! I’ve got some pretty big cerel boxes that need repurposing…..and I need a place for all my magazines.
Donna Wilkes says
Just this afternoon I was thinking I needed to buy some more magazine holders. Now I see I can use the cereal and crackers boxes. Oh, how I wish I had not taken the recycling bins out! I am pinning this and making my hubby eat more cereal.
Brenda @ ChattingOverChocolate.blogspot.com says
LOVE it!!! Such a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing! Pinned 😉
Cynthia L. says
What a great idea! I have so many magazines that I feel I can’t get rid of! Now I know how to organize them!
Cynthia
Elise says
I’m totally going to do this! Thanks for the tutorial!
Cynthia L. says
I am so glad you shared this! I can’t wait to see what you create next!
Cynthia
Lori @ a Bright and Beautiful Life says
What a great idea.
Stephanie says
I made a few magazine holders with my cereal boxes, but I never thought to fold the flaps instead of cutting them off! Now I want to try and make some this way and see how much sturdier they are. Great tutorial!
Darlene says
Ingenious. I had to PIN it.
Diane says
That is so clever. Thanks for sharing at The Gathering Spot this week 🙂
DesignedByBH says
Absolutely love this idea. I’m pinning it and doing it! 🙂
Genie says
I made a bunch of those years ago and covered them. I like yours uncovered better — covering them was a bit of a pain.
Stephanie @ Life's Little Adventures says
This is so clever. Thank you for sharing this idea on Money Saving Monday!!
Peggy~PJH Designs says
What a great idea! I have so many magazines that I hate to throw away. Thanks for joining us at Transformed Tuesday.
Hugs,
Peggy~PJH Designs
PJ says
This is brilliant. It is next on my list.
Diann @ The Thrifty Groove says
I made these for Lia’s coloring books. Now she has her own little file system. LOL thank you for sharing at TTF.
Becca says
My mom used to make these! Totally brings back memories from my childhood. I remember them holding fun nature magazines. 🙂
Found you via The Weekend re-Treat. 🙂
krystie says
I did this and covered them with wall paper scraps! they are awesome for my cooking magazines!
Vickie says
Wow! I remember making these in Camp Fire Girls many, many moons ago! Thanks for jogging my memory. I will have to start saving my cardboard boxes now so I can make a few!
Linda says
Brilliance happening here… Thanks, Noreen. You always come up with the best, unique stuff. Keep it coming… Linda
Love your daughter’s site, too.
Tammy says
Well now, I’ve made gift totes with them and chopped them to make tags with, but had never thought of doing this. Great idea! Tammy
D says
Thanks so much for sharing this project. It’s a great idea and perfect for approaching Earth Day…we all need to recycle! D
Linda says
I have also made these out of empty wine boxes, covered with contact paper and/or fabric and mod podge. They are very sturdy, and a good excuse to buy another box of wine!
Bonnie says
I love this idea! So simple 🙂 I wanted to let you know, though, that I’m also a writer for Crafting a Green World. Every month we do a Green Crafts Showcase where we feature a awesome green projects (like this one!). You should definitely enter this project! If you’re interested, you can enter here: http://craftingagreenworld.com/green-crafts/
-Bonnie
Charlene says
Great idea to keep everything neat and accessible! Thanks so much!
Marie says
Wow, this is a great idea and a wonderful way to repurpose!
Shannon says
What a fantastic idea. Simple and fun! Thanks!
Mary says
I made these when I taught kindergarten so everyone could have their own little book box.
Jennifer says
So glad you visited.
Jennifer
Rose :: Fine Craft Guild says
Noreen, this is great!!! I have these all over my home! Haven’t made a tutorial for them yet, I don’t think… Can’t remember. They are a great catch-all for near the phone, near the front door, in the kitchen for the cookbooks and recipes…. And then I have a couple in my craft closet. Good tutorial!
admin says
They’re so handy, aren’t they?
Noreen
Theresa says
Hi Noreen, I love this thrifty idea. Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you again soon!
Susie says
What an awesome project! Stop by again!
Have a great week!
Susie
Diana Rambles says
Great idea!!
Regina M. Hamilton says
I’ve been looking for something like this. Thanks for the tutorial. I will be making one real soon.