Years ago, hot off the heels of our Hawaiian honeymoon we purchased these magazine holders from IKEA. I think they reminded us of Maui, with that bold flower pattern. Later when we redid our home office I knew we needed them for storage but the brown cardboard wouldn’t look great with the dark wood of our new desk armoire.
Strolling through the aisles of Tuesday Morning I found my $1.99 answer: wrapping paper. I snagged a roll of this green trellis pattern (I’m obsessed!) and the black and white damask. Then I got to work covering the magazine racks.
First, I made a template by laying the holder on it’s side and tracing around the outer edge—from side, to back, to the other side again.
Next, I cut it out (remember that it’s better to have it a big bigger than smaller, because you can always trim after it’s on).
Then I attached the paper to the holder using rubber cement. I found that if I used a thin layer and worked in small sections I got the best result.
After the glue dries, trim any excess paper from the edges.
The last step was to label them using tags and my lover. I mean labeler.
By the way, if you don’t have old magazine holders to recover you can make your own simply by cutting out a cereal box (or other box of similar shape). You can find the instructions on AllFreeCrafts.com. Storage that is free AND environmentally friendly? WIN!
And there you have it! Magazine holders that pop while providing valuable storage space. I keep catalogs, papers, and more in them—they really come in handy!
Okay I thought I was anal when it came to being exact and perfect…but OMG you did an amazing job matching up the patterns on the different boxes!!
Great idea, by the way. Wish I would have thought of this sooner, I just tossed a couple away!! Good thing those boxes are cheap…may have to go pick some up!!
I love the wrapping paper you chose. They turned out great. You should join the next We’re Organized Wednesday link party. It’s Nov. 10th. Hope to see you there. Have a great rest of the week.
Carrie those look awesome!!!! I am gonna steal that idea when I am home and have some “free” time! LOL Is that desk from Ikea? We need to find a corner hutch desk thingy and Ikea is the only ‘reasonable’ one I can find….
Those are beautiful! I love papers of all kinds. I’ll have to jot this idea down for future reference. (Visiting from SITS.)
You’re SOOOOO neat. I’m worried that if I tried this it would go all squiffy!!
They look really lovely. I could really do with some magaine holders. My collection is getting a life of its own!!!!
I’m glad things like that make you happy. They make me happy too. We can be weired together!!
Sarahx
This is fabulous! I’ve done the exact same thing but with scrap booking paper, much more expensive. I really like the idea of wrapping paper much more! Thank you for sharing! I found you through Jane and you have a great blog!
Take care
Kristin
Great idea.