Organizing on a Budget: How to Make a Magazine Holder

Trying to organize your home can be a daunting task, even more so when you are trying to do it on a budget. Those nice plastic totes and containers can get quite pricy when you have to purchase a lot of them. Since my spring cleaning is just around the corner, I wanted to get as organized as possible and clear out as much junk as possible to streamline the process. Here is one creative idea I used to save money on my organizing adventure.

I was in dire need of magazine style holders to organize my recipe folder, notebooks, and the kid’s school stuff. After searching my house to see what I could use I found a bunch of old flat rate post office boxes that would work. They are the 11-7/8″ x 3-3/8″ x 13-5/8″ size.

1. First, make sure the ends are secure so you have a closed box.

2. Lay the box in front of you vertically and place a magazine so the corner matches up with the lower right hand corner.

3. Draw a 3-inch line at the top of the magazine from the right hand end of the box towards the middle.

4. Now place the magazine so the corner matches up with the top left hand corner

5. Draw a 3-inch line at the bottom of the magazine from the left hand end of the box towards the middle.

6. Use a ruler to connect the lines

7. Flip the box over and repeat, except this time you will match the magazine up with the lower left hand corner and the upper right hand corner.

8. Use a utility knife to cut along the lines, using a ruler as a straight edge if necessary.

9. Once you have two separate pieces, decorate any way you wish. I painted mine black with poster paint because that is what I had available but spray paint or other craft paints would work just as well.

Once the paint dries and your decorating is done you are ready to organize those magazines, notebooks, or anything else. Depending on how many you need you may have saved yourself a good deal of money and the environment by using those boxes that would have wound up in a landfill. There are many other storage container that can be made from things you just having lying around your home. By using a little creativity and your imagination you can make them look like they came from the store.