100% Recycled Magazine Trinket Boxes - a Process Tutorial (my way)

I really get into making these magazine trinket boxes and the recipients ALWAYS love them! The 100% recycled part is definitely a big seller because deep down inside, people actually want to help the environment and minimize waste. Trust me, its true.

You can use any magazine or catalog for this project. All you need is magazines, and glue! I use Aleene's because it dries pretty quick. I've never used Art Glitter Glue but from what I've heard, it dries pretty quick.

I use needle-tip glue bottles. They make much less of a gluey mess. There is no needle-tip bottle that is better than any other one...they are all handy and they all SUCK at the same time!

Here are a few links of items I use. (These are Amazon Affiliate links because I am a member of their Affiliate program which means I make a small commission on the things you buy using my links. There is no extra cost to you for using these links.)

https://amzn.to/4an8QAV - needle tip bottles

https://amzn.to/3PthaFe - Aleene's Tacky Glue

 

The Components

First, you have to make some of these. You use the magazine PAGES for these. Put the covers aside for later.

There are two ways to make these and I will explain the pros and cons of each.

Half Page

The first way is by using a magazine page cut the long way (AKA "Hotdog" way) cut in HALF. This gives thicker pieces that make assembly go a bit quicker due to the thickness. The con side to this is when you are adding the pieces around the box, they don't bend as easily and can add strange creases.

Quarter Page

The second way is also cutting the page the long way except in QUARTERS. I prefer this way only because the creases aren't as prominent on the outside of the box. The downside of this is that making the base and the lid takes a bit longer since its only half as thick as the other ones.

 

 

Prepping Your Pieces

You won't get every single one folded perfectly straight. You will have ragged edges some, poor cut lines, etc. THIS IS ALL OK! You don't need them to be perfect. You need them to look original and unique. You are not a machine. You will never create things exactly the same each time.
Here is an example of one of my finished strips. Wonky, slightly different sizes on each end, ragged edges. Its all ok, I promise. 

 

 

 

 

After I make 40 billion strips (go big or go home, right?), I take the handful I'm going to be using and I "break them." What this means is that I run them across my hand and crease them so they are easier to wrap around each other. Trust me, this step is CRUCIAL! It makes bending them how you want them much smoother. I will take the first few I'm going to use and wrap them around my finger since those ones will need to roll tighter to create the base of the box (also applicable for the lid)

 

 

Construction - Base

Start rolling! Creating the base is easy. Add a strip of glue along the entire strip and start wrapping. Trust me, you need glue along the entire strip. ((Ask me how I know)) Keep wrapping them around each other until you are satisfied with the size.

This is what they look like when using the half-page strips. Much chunkier pieces. You'll see the thinner pieces below in a pic of the lid.

After you glue each piece around, you will need to hold it for a second - that's where the glue you use is important. I used an Elmer's Craft Bond glue that took FOREVER to dry and it didn't work out too well in the end. The Aleene's works pretty good for what I need. And I use it for a lot of different projects - both paper and non-paper crafts.

 

Construction - Body

This is where the cover of the magazine comes in handy. You'll want to fold it. (the long way, of course) but you can adjust it to any size you want it to be. So for instance, I'd make mine about 1/3 - 1/4 of the cover size which meant I'd have to double that size to fold in half so its twice as thick. I think the sturdiness of the cover doubled up makes a difference and makes assembly much easier. Can you fold the entire cover in half and use the whole thing? Absolutely. Can you glue two completely separate pieces together to make a larger cover? Yes. I would glue two separate pieces together all the time just so I didn't have scraps. If I didn't have enough for one cover, I'd just double up from another.

 

 

Add a strip of glue around the bottom edge of your cover piece and wrap it around the base. No, you don't need to cut the cover to fit...you can wrap it around itself. It has no effect on the box in the end. You can choose the prettier side of the cover to be inside of the box if you want. 

 

 

 

 

When you start wrapping around the cover, just go carefully and press from the inside to get the glue to adhere. Don't overlap the strips - they cause bulk in one spot and it doesn't look good. This picture shows the wrapping BEFORE I cut the strip to fit. You can see how that would bulk things up right there. (Measure one strip to the box and use that strip to measure the rest of the pieces.

Try to keep all seams in one place - we'll cover those later.

You can color coordinate or create a random arrangement of colors - whichever you choose. I made a bunch of color coordinated ones this time around but the last batch I made were all random.

Wrap all the way up to the top. If the last one doesn't fit perfectly, that's ok - the last strip can be a bit taller than the box...just glue accordingly.

 

 

Construction - Lid

Wrap the lid just as you did for the base. Line up to make sure it is slightly larger than the base. If you counjustted the pieces for the base, go one extra for the lid - 2 if it is large. I  line mine up because I usually lose count of how many strips I've used while creating the base - oooops.

Here is a lid made with the smaller strips. I also started making bases/lids with the thicker strips and the box itself with the thinner strips. That worked out well and helped the process move along a little faster. The lid needs to be bigger than the base. You need it to go over the entire box top and we are going to add to the box to cover the seams - so keep that in mind.

 

 

You'll see in the pic above that one strip creates a little lip. That helps keep the lid on the box. Just use your needle tip bottle, glue around the bottom of the last lid strip and hold/move the strip around as needed (quickly depending on your glue). No,  it won't be perfect...that's ok. You really won't be able to tell once its on.

The little handle on top is just that - one or two pieces in a roll and a generous amount of glue to hold it to the lid.

 

 

Finishing Touches

Those seams stick out like a sore thumb, right? So,we have to cover them up! Just cut some strips in the same color or complimenting cover and use some kind of clip or rubber bands to hold it together while the glue dries. 

And here is the finished product!

They are fun to display and they make perfect gifts! Let me know if you have any questions/suggestions/ideas!

~M