By Tiffany Threadgould

In CRAFT Volume 09, I showed you how to transform cereal boxes into business card holders, magazine holders, and postcards. Since it’s UpCraft month at Craftzine, I decided to upcycle that idea to include a pencil case, too.

This pencil holder will make a great case for upcycling. When you’re done, don’t let this project keep you boxed in! Try coming up with your own cereal box upcycling project.

Materials

Cereal box
Pencil
Scissors
Ruler
Clear tape
Hook and loop fastener
Scoring tools like a butter knife or bent paper clip

Download the pencil case template PDF
(Right click to save the PDF to your desktop. See directions on downloading PDFs.)

Directions

Step 1: Open a food box at the seams and flatten it out.

Step 2: Cut out the pencil case template and place it on top of the flattened box. Trace onto the cardboard around the edge of the template and cut the shape out of the cardboard.

Step 3: With a pencil, mark the score lines on the cereal box where they are indicated on the template. Place the ruler on top of your cardboard cutout on the places where you’ve marked your lines. Run your paper scoring tool along the lines. Fold at these lines.

Step 4: Fold up the pencil case at the score lines and tuck the bottom tab inside the bottom of the case. Put a small piece of clear tape securing the tab in place. Then, place tape along the long side of the case.

Step 5: Attach the self-adhesive hook and loop fastener to the top flap on the inside of the case. Fold the flap down so the other side of the hook and loop fastener attaches to the front of the case.

I upcycled empty Kashi cereal boxes for this project. If you eat Kashi, too, and you’re left with the cereal box liner, granola bar wrappers, or other Kashi packaging, sign up for the TerraCycle/Kashi brigade. You can send in the Kashi packaging to be upcycled while earning money for your favorite charity!

About the Author:

Tiffany Threadgould is a design junkie who gives scrap materials a second life. She's the head of design at TerraCycle, a company that collects and creates products from waste. She also keeps up her own green biz, RePlayGround, where you can find ReMake It recycling kits and oodles of DIY projects. Tiffany thinks that garbage has feelings too and can sometimes be found talking to her pile of junk at her design studio in Brooklyn, N.Y.