I have a few magazine titles that I like to keep around before recycling them - The New Yorker and Vanity Fair among them. The best way to neatly store these periodicals is in a magazine file. Here's an easy how-to for turning an empty cereal box into a magazine file.
What You Need
Materials Empty cereal box, ruler, pen, scissors, decorative paper, mod podge
Instructions
1. Eat a large box of cereal. Of course, you don't have to do this all at once but I promise not to judge if you do. I used a 35 oz. box of cereal, which is the perfect size for these titles but is too small for others, like Dwell and Martha Stewart.
2. With a ruler, measure and mark a diagonal line on the front and back of the box. Also mark a line on the side of the box connecting the two diagonal lines. A clear craft ruler is a great tool for this step.
3. Cut off the top and the area you marked on the box in step #2. I used scissors for this but you could also use an x-acto knife or blade.
4. Cover the magazine file with paper. I used mod podge to glue wrapping paper to my file. Then, after the box was covered in paper, I slathered a layer of mod podge on the entire thing, giving it a little extra strength.
5. After the mod podge has dried, fill your new file box with magazines!
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Beatriz's Fun & Functional Workspace
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
that seems like it might be a little flimsy to hold more than one or two magazines, but I like the fact that it's upcycled.
This the neatest project I have seen on here! Thanks!
Brilliant! Upcycled and functional (and high-fibre!) - this project makes me smile. I am looking at my food containers with fresh eyes as I re-re-organize my bookshelves and get to work on step #1. I love a DIY even more when I already have the materials on hand. Thanks for the inspiration!
I was thinking the same thing as dmh about the weight of the cardboard.
I have some thick cardboard magazine holders that sometimes topple over so I'm not too sure what to think about the practical side of this.
BUT I love the idea and I think it would be a great vertical "inbox" on a desk, too.
Why? A cardboard magazine file is $3. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60177958 Getting the decorative paper and modge podge outweigh the value of recycling the cereal box. And although the modge podge adds stiffness, a cereal box isn't really strong enough to hold up as a magazine file.
I may try this idea this afternoon! Perhaps I will find a way to weigh down the bottom. I'll share if I find something that works.
The IKEA ones aren't much thicker. I think, like everything at IKEA, they're flat-packed, and you've got to do some gluing to make the bottom stay solid.
Might as well just cut up another box and glue them together if you're worried about the strength of the box.
The concept here is nice, though - especially if you save it for right after Christmas, when places like Walgreens have mondo-sales on wrapping paper. Most of it isn't entirely Christmas-y, either. Solid green or red would be perfect for this.
While this project didn't work for my magazines, it worked PERFECTLY for all the phamplets I had for my appliances and gadgets.
Try a box of wine box (Franzia fits my larger Food network mag.) thicker and sturdier. I wrapped in fabric - looks good.
This project is so simple, but yet so effective! :)
I linked it on my recycle-upcycle blog (freshtrash.blog.com), I hope you don't mind! I'll continue to sniff around!
Have a nice day!