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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Updated Cardboard Magazine Holders


As promised, I'm back again with another quick and easy craft closet update.  A few weeks ago I overhauled my wood file cabinet and today I'm sharing a super easy way to update inexpensive cardboard magazine holders.  I tend to buy these inexpensive ones from IKEA because you can't beat the price and they are so easy to update and modify.

After scouring my craft supplies and going back and forth between using vintage locker tags or metal pulls, I eventually had a plan to give my inexpensive boxes a more expensive look.

Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.

I started by measuring and cutting thin strips of balsa wood to fit the front of the magazine holder.
Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.

Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look
I then stained each piece with Minwax Jacobean.
Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.
Once dry, I used hot glue to attach the wood strips to the front of each box.
Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.

Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.
(I was originally going to use the vintage locker tags, but liked the look of the pulls better.  Don't worry, those locker tags are too good not to be used somewhere.)

Now that I had the wood in place it was time to attach the brads and pulls.  I normally use the thicker balsa wood, but for this project I picked up the super thin pieces.  The wood is so soft that I was able to poke holes using a small drill bit. 
Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.

Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.

Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.
You would never know from the front of the boxes that they are actually made out of inexpensive cardboard.



I placed them on one of the shelves in my craft closet and I love how they tie in with my faux specimen file cabinet



Give inexpensive magazine holders a custom and expensive look.

I think they turned out pretty well considering they ended up costing less than $1.50 a piece to update.


Would you like to comment?

  1. BRILLIANT! And they match perfectly with your cabinet!!!!

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  2. These look lovely. Great idea :)

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  3. Thats SO clever!!! Will be sure to grab some of these on our next Ikea visit
    Brill project :)

    Sarah @ EDEA Smith
    www.edea-smith.co.uk

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  4. I love these! They look amazing with your cabinet. And I must say I am slightly jealous at your unbelievable craft closet. Great job!

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  5. These turned out so cute! Great idea and your space is beautiful!!
    Thanks for sharing at Totally Terrific Tuesday :)
    Jess
    Live Randomly Simple
    Pinned and shared!

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  6. This is so neat. It makes them look so expensive. I love this. I definitely need to try this out. If it saves money then it's my favorite!

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