I got these simple, white magazine holders awhile back from a local organization supplies store. I knew I’d be able to do something cool with them…I just wasn’t quite sure what. I’ve been seeing lots of craft projects involving spray adhesive and figured since I already had some that I’d give it a go and give my magazine holders a makeover with some pretty fabric from my stash.
I gathered my materials and selected a couple fabrics. The magazine holder came partially pre-assembled so I couldn’t easily make a template as it wouldn’t lie completely flat (and I didn’t feel up to taking it apart and re-gluing it later…lazy me, I know). I figured I’d "cheat" and just do two colors – one on each side and and another corresponding color around the narrow edges.
I started by cutting my fabric pieces and giving them a quick ironing as they had been pre-washed and were a bit wrinkly. Then, I laid newspaper over my dining room table and sprayed one side of the magazine holder with the glue. I let it dry for approximately one minute (per the bottle) and carefully applied the first side, gently spreading the fabric to help keep it nice and smooth.
As I didn’t want the inside of the magazine holder to be sticky and this spray adhesive is a bit hard to control without covering stuff up, etc., I decided to use my friend, hot glue, to tack down the sides and stick the fabric down on the inside. I repeated the previous steps for the other side of the magazine holder.
Then, I took a long piece of fabric just a tad wider than the narrow width of the magazine holder and trimmed the sides with my scallop-edge pinking shears to give it a decorative edge as I wasn’t sure I could hide the raw edges. I figured if they were going to show, they might as well be cute, right? Anywho, b/c I was feeling a tad lazy, I decided just to use hot glue to glue down the long piece along the narrow edge of the magazine holder. The spray adhesive is rather messy and gets everything sticky if you’re not careful, and I didn’t want to be bothered with the newspaper sticking to me and stuff.
What do you think about the finished product? I have soooo very many magazines, I think I could possibly spend a lifetime making these little holders to contain all of them, but alas…I do not have such free time. Maybe I’ll make one here and there?
I can be a bit slow with my crafting at times, so I’m not sure if tonight was the case or whether this project is just a bit lengthy, but this one took about two hours to complete. I guess that’s not really too bad, but two hours more than I typically have every night! lol. I guess if I’m lucky, I’ll make at least one more…haha. Hey, at least I finished a project for once, right? 🙂
Oh Diana — it's beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
It is cute. I recovered 2 of mine ages ago, and never did the other 3. They do take a long time.
Fantastic Diana, I love it. I have the exact same pink fabric with the white polka dots, that's pretty cool. I have a whole bunch of those file folders that Peter gave me over a year ago and they are in the basement just gathering dust. You have given me a fantastic idea to dress them up.
Great tutorial because it's really easy to follow. I just wanted to know how the hot glue turned out?
I find sometimes I get strips of it (lines) that stand out on paper and don't look nice, did you have that problem? It looks sleek and so pretty.
Hey Stephanie, I figured I'd answer here instead of email in case anyone else was curious…I tried to only hot glue the inside pieces b/c of how you can see glue "streaks" where the glue and fabric meet, but figured I'd give the narrow strip a go with the hot glue since the spray adhesive seemed so messy. I used one of the smaller, lower heat glue guns for the project, so it pushed out less glue than the larger ones at one time. When I applied the glue to the magazine holder, I tried to drag the tip around along the top of the cardboard in small circles, while squeezing lightly, to make the lines of glue very thin. I'm sure you can see some streaking, but by keep the glue thin, it's not too bad.
You could probably cover the sides with paper and use the spray adhesive, but I was feeling a tad lazy last night…heehee.
Oh, and if you pick darker fabrics, I think the streaking will also be less noticeable.
HTH,
🙂 Diana
I love it. the fabric is so cute, too.
They (magazine holders) turned out lovely. Very pretty fabric. Hope wedding plans are going well — just wondering when is the Big Day? Best wishes.
the folder is fantastic!
and soooo spring like 🙂 my heart sings looking at this one 🙂
Love your magazine cover you made. Especially
the colors and patterns of the fabrics. I did this once but used scrapbook papers. (12×12) and it worked out well, too. Your fabric idea is more suitable for the wear and tear on the box — great job !
this mag-holder is so so cute. I love it. congrats on your wedding. It looked fab and very very romantic.
I have one question. How do you place those signatures on your pictures?
enid p.
Hey Enid,
I tried emailing you ,but it bounced…here's what I sent:
Thanks Enid!
I used Photoshop to add the words over the photos. It's pretty expensive,
but there are some freeware versions out…I hear "gimp" is good, but I
haven't tried it myself.
HTH,
Diana 🙂
LOVE it! I'll be linking…