Punch and Lace a Desk File from a Cereal Box
March desk clearing often turns up envelopes and receipts too small for a tall magazine file. A cereal carton cut on a diagonal keeps those papers upright and visible. Lacing a colored paper band around the lower portion gives the box a finish without wrapping the entire shape.
Choose a carton and cut the profile
- One empty, clean cereal carton with intact bottom flaps, roughly 19 cm wide, 6 cm deep and at least 26 cm tall
- One strip of sturdy paper, 6 cm high and long enough to circle the carton plus 2 cm
- About 90 cm of cotton twine, plus scissors, ruler, pencil, single-hole punch and double-sided tape
Remove the liner and cut off the top flaps. On the two broad faces, mark 10 cm above the bottom at the same physical end of the box and 24 cm at the other end. Connect the marks with a diagonal on each face. Join matching heights across the narrow ends, then cut from the open rim down to a corner of the marked profile. Cut along the remaining lines, turning the carton as you go.
Wrap and lace the band
Dry-wrap the paper strip around the bottom half and crease it at each corner. Position the overlap on the tall narrow end. Mark two holes in each strip end, about 2 cm apart vertically and 8 mm from the end. Punch the holes while the strip is off the carton. Wrap again, using short pieces of double-sided tape on the broad faces to keep the strip from shifting. Thread the twine through the two pairs of holes and tie a bow. Trim the tails.
Keep it upright
If the profile looks skewed, check the low corners against one another and trim the higher one slightly. A carton that rocks may have a loose bottom flap; tape it flat before loading. Stand larger envelopes against the tall side and keep heavy bundles out of the file. For narrow slips, drop a folded cardstock divider into the box so they do not slide out of sight.
