Make a magazine holder out of a cereal box

You know those tall magazine holders you can get at office supply stores, with one side slanted so you can easily pull the periodicals out? Well, you can make something like that at home yourself for a fraction of the cost. It’s a really fun, easy project, and the end result works well (I’ve had the one in the photo for years, and it’s held up nicely). And once you’ve done the cutting, you can turns kids loose on this project.

You’ll need a cereal box, possibly some additional thin cardboard, scissors or a blade to cut through cardboard, a ruler and (optionally) some kind of paper to wrap it in.

Make your own magazine holder

1. Take a box cutter or Exacto blade – good, sharp scissors can work, but they’re harder to use – and cut the top flaps off the cereal box.
2. On one narrow side of the box, measure about 4-5 inches from the bottom (about a third of the way up) and draw a straight line across it, using a ruler or straight edge.
3. Now take your ruler and put it against one of the wide sides, holding it diagonally, and draw a line from the line on the narrow side up to the opposite top corner of the box.
4. Repeat the diagonal line on the other side.
5. Now cut along the lines, and you’ve got your basic box.
6. If you want to reinforce it, cut additional pieces of thin cardboard and glue or tape them to the box (you’re going to cover them, so it isn’t important for it to look nice yet).
7. Now comes the decorating. Contact Paper is ideal: it’s tough and it adds a little more reinforcement. You could also use gorgeous wrapping paper (which is what I did), postcards, stationary, etc. If you do use regular paper, you’ll want to brush over it with some clear-drying liquid gesso or a similar finishing agent to lock it in.

That’s it! You can get really creative by putting together a collage for the covering – bits from magazines are perfect, since it’s a magazine holder. You could wrap it in newspaper, too, and by the time you’ve covered it with the clear gesso, you won’t need to worry about ink transferring from it.