cheap diy storage

My husband recently requested a subscription to National Geographic for his birthday. So the question after getting a magazine monthly is what to do when you have read them once (No neither of us is cool enough to have a Kindle Fire or an iPad yet)? Do you recycle them? Do you give them away to someone else you know? We decided to keep them available for viewing in the lobby of the law office he shares. Rather than buying a magazine rack, here is what I did:

1. Cut the top off of a medium box (we are a little obsessed with bulk shopping lately, which gets to be like play Tetris in a small apartment)
2. Cover the box with brown craft paper (I wrapped it like a present and used a glue that would not clump or show through the paper, only reinforcing with tape on the bottom where it would not be viewed.
3. Measure the total size of the box, then purchase enough muslin fabric to make an interior lining (I only needed approximately a third of a yard, which was less than a $1. My box measured 9" in height and 28" total width.)
4, Wash and press your fabric, then cut to size, making sure to leave at least an extra inch total for seam allowances (you should have a large rectangle for the sides of the box and a small rectangle that fits the bottom of the box. Mine measured at 29"x 12" and 9"x8").
5. Stitch the top seam first folding half and inch of wrong sides together for the large rectangle
6. Stitch the sides of the large rectangle together with right sides together
7. Pin together and stitch the small rectangle to the large rectangle at the bottom with right sides together.

Once again sorry for the lack of pictures! I have been so forgetful lately!!