Sunday, July 26, 2009

Transform an Old Cereal Box Into a Stylish Magazine Holder


Do you have heaps of magazines that need to be organized and tidied away? Do you eat breakfast cereal? Why not recycle your empty cereal boxes by transforming them into magazine holders? Creating original and stylish magazine holders using only a few easy-to-find materials is a simple craft project that children and adults alike can enjoy.

You will need:

1 large old breakfast cereal packet
paper glue
scotch tape
pencil
ruler
scissors
self-adhesive book backing, wrapping paper, or other coverings or decorations (see step nine below)

1. Cut the top flaps off the cereal box, so that the top is completely open.
2. Reinforce the bottom of the cereal packet by affixing scotch tape to the sealed down flaps inside the box, if necessary.
3. Starting from one of the top corners of the box, measure approximately 4 inches (10 centimeters) along the top edge of the front of the box and mark this point with pencil.
4. Measure and mark the same distance along the top edge of the back of the box, so that the marks are directly opposite each other.
5. Go to the opposite top corner to the top corner from which you began your measurements in steps 3 and 4, and draw a straight horizontal line across the width of the packet (on the side of the packet, not on the front or the back), about two-thirds of the way down from the top.
6. Using a ruler, draw a straight diagonal line from the mark at the top of the front of the box to the end of the line on the side of the packet. The diagonal line should be seen on the front of the packet.
7. Do the same on the back of the cereal packet.
8. Carefully cut along the diagonal lines on the front and back of the box, and then cut across the straight line on the side of the packet. Your cereal box should now look like the cereal box in the photo above.
9. Your magazine holder is now ready to cover and decorate. There are many ways in which you can do this. Here are some ideas:
Cover the magazine holder with self-adhesive book backing;
Glue on wrapping paper;
Cover with white paper and make a collage on top using pictures cut from magazines;
Cut out letters of the alphabet from a magazine, print them out from your computer or use alphabet stickers to label the spine of the magazine holder with the name of the magazine that it will hold;
Cover the magazine holder with fabric or felt for an individual look.

Once you have mastered the art of transforming cereal boxes into magazine holders, you will no longer need to throw away your old cereal boxes and you will no longer need to buy magazine holders. You will save money, the environment will benefit, and you will gain the satisfaction of having transformed trash into something stylish and functional.

8 comments:

Joanne Olivieri said...

What a cool idea. I never would have thought of something like this. Thanks so much for the idea and info.

Roz said...

Thanks, Poetic Shutterbug! They are great fun to make and it's so easy to make lots of them to store all your magazines!

Sher said...

Hi Roz,
This is a great idea! I'll probably try this as we have loads of National Geographic magazines to put in order after our move!

Have a great day,
Sher :0)

Roz said...

Thanks, Sher! This really is a fun project - and very useful too!

Best wishes,

Roz

Duni said...

That's a great idea, Roz! I have loads of magazines that I desperately need to get organized!
Luckily, I do eat cereal :)
A couple Kellogs boxes and I'm ready to go...

Roz said...

Hi Duni

The great thing about this project is that you will never run out of materials (unless you stop eating cereal!!)

Hope that you have fun making the magazine holders,

Roz

Mandy said...

What a brilliant idea!!! Why haven't I thought of that before??

Roz said...

Thanks, Emm. It's a great way to organise your magazines while recycling your cereal boxes!!

 
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