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Cereal Box Magazine Holder

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By Noreen Doll.

Create a free cereal box magazine holder.

Cereal Box Magazine Holder by Crafty Journal

When you’ve been crafting for a while you start to accumulate magazines, and eventually you need a place to keep them.

Cereal Box Magazine Holder by Crafty Journal

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.

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Small boxes can also hold small books.

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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.

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2. On one end of the box measure up 3 to 5 inches from the bottom and draw a line across.

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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.

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3. Draw a light line from where you cut off the panel to the opposite top corner.

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Score firmly on this line.

4. Fold the diagonal flap to the inside along the score line.

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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.

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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.

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These will line up nicely on a book shelf, and may be covered with decorative paper to look more attractive.

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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

Crafty Journal

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Comments

  8. 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

  9. 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.

  11. Wonderful idea! I’ve got some pretty big cerel boxes that need repurposing…..and I need a place for all my magazines.

  12. 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.

  18. 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!

  22. I made a bunch of those years ago and covered them. I like yours uncovered better — covering them was a bit of a pain.

  27. 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. 🙂

  29. 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!

  30. Brilliance happening here… Thanks, Noreen. You always come up with the best, unique stuff. Keep it coming… Linda

    Love your daughter’s site, too.

  31. 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

  32. Thanks so much for sharing this project. It’s a great idea and perfect for approaching Earth Day…we all need to recycle! D

  33. 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!

  34. 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

  40. 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!

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