Upcycled Project: 7 Ways to Reuse Cereal Boxes

As a blog, upcycling junk is one of the advocacies on which Crafty in the City is built. 

If you regularly have a bowl of cereal for breakfast with your family, cereal boxes may be piling up somewhere in your home.

Why Upcycle Cereal Boxes? 

Upcycling helps reduce clutter.

Upcycling, whether it's junk, excess supplies from your stash of craft materials, or old stuff, is one of the best ways to reduce clutter. 

Reducing clutter helps the environment because more people benefit while less stuff ends up in landfills.

Upcycling cereal boxes can be a cost-effective way to get new supplies.

You won't always need to drop by or head straight to the nearest store or shop to buy new stuff if you make it a habit to upcycle. 

You'll realize that over the long term, you'll be spending less and less, and this can rack up significant savings for you.

Upcycling lets you experience the creative process.

Much has been said about how stress can be alleviated by eating the proper diet and getting enough sleep and physical activity. 

And yet, it hasn't been stressed often enough that humans can benefit from creating, improvising, and innovating.

Through upcycling, you can customize brand new stuff according to your tastes and preferences.

I used to go shopping at bookstores and stationery stores and bemoaning the fact that I could barely find anything that suits my tastes.

As someone who's been a crafter since 2006, I realized that one of the advantages of DIY is I get to customize my own stuff according to my preferences. 

Getting to call nearly all the shots is even easier if you have tools and equipment like paper punchers, scrapbook scissors, and materials like felt paper, corrugated board, washi tapes, stickers, and felt-tip pens among your craft stash. 

If you have children, you can easily bond over upcycling projects with them.

Some of these upcycling projects are simple enough, and can be done in a little as half an hour (or less). 

So if you're looking for activities with which you can bond over with your kids, you can bring out cereal boxes and upcycle with them. 

Also, along with activities like reading, playing outside, taking care of pets, etc., getting your kids to upcycle stuff over the long holidays or summer vacation will make them less likely to binge on junk food or reach for their mobile devices. 

Concerned that your kids are spending too much time in front of the screen? Read -- 

How to Help Your Kids Reduce Screen Time Through Crafts

5 Best Ways to Wean Your Kids Away From the Screen 

Having said all of the above, here are 7 ways to upcycle empty cereal boxes:

Magazine holder 

Since cereal boxes are colorful enough, you can just use a ruler, a pencil or ballpoint pen, and a craft knife or scissors to take away the excess portion of the box.

Or, you can take a sheet of scrapbook paper or wrapping paper to decorate your magazine holder. 

You can even decorate your magazine holder by tearing away glossy pages of old magazines, music scores, the yellow pages, or book pages that have gone brown over time and applying techniques in decoupage or papier mache.

You can do the same with tissue, Japanese, or crepe paper, and even use fabric glue to put other materials like lace, craft buttons, ribbons, or pom poms.

Folder

You can keep your documents or files neat and organized with folders upcycled from cereal boxes. 

If you're a parent, you can supervise your kids to turn their upcycled folders into a DIY portfolio for their drawings and other artwork.

Notebook

If you're in the habit of jotting down reminders, ideas, inspirational quotes, grocery lists, or keeping track of bills, having several notebooks with you can be really convenient.

You have the option to DIY a ruled or unruled notebook. And since cereal boxes come in different sizes, you can create huge notebooks as well as miniature, pocket ones as well.

Shabby chic junk journal

A shabby chic journal is an excellent upcycled project, because you can use up your surplus or excess craft materials. 

If you have supplies like felt cloth or paper, fabric with the prints or patterns that you prefer, lace, ribbons, craft buttons, ephemera, and twine, along with paper memorabilia like concert or cinema tickets, notes, cards, gift tags, bookmarks, doodles, etc., you can use them all to put together a shabby chic junk journal.

Photo from Stuff You Can't Have
Click here for a complete tutorial

Candy gift boxes

These candy gift boxes upcycled from cereal boxes make attractive party favors, and can be used for Halloween candy as well. 

They can also serve other purposes like containers for items like trinkets, accessories, a keychain or bag charm.

Image from New Infarrantly Creative
Click here for complete tutorial

Postcard mail art

Some might argue that snail mail is a dying art. So why not help revive it by crafting a bunch of postcards from the colorful parts of cereal boxes?

Photo from New Infarrantly Creative
Click here for complete tutorial

Cereal box mosaic

This cereal box mosaic can be really versatile. You can create a mosaic frame to decorate a chalkboard, or DIY a smaller one for family photos.

Small Business Idea: DIY Phone Charms

Phone charms, also called phone straps, phone danglers, or phone lanyards, first originated in Japan and later on, in the United States. 

Gradually, phone charms became popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Celebrities, who are mostly likely to have their selfies published, are often seen with phone charms. 

Why not start a small business by capitalizing on this trend? 

Why Sell DIY Phone Charms?

Selling DIY phone charms can be done on a fairly low capital. 

For this small business idea, you can already acquire enough materials for Php1,000-Php1,500.* 

You can manage the business part-time at first.

If you're unsure whether or not a small business is something you can sustain, you have the option to operate it part-time at first. 

It could also be a way to augment a regular salary that comes from employment.

You may also be fond of giving away DIY gifts to your relatives and friends, and may just want to sell your surplus of phone charms.

You can sell your DIY phone charms online.

This is a huge advantage expenses-wise. You don't need to maintain a physical store in order to house and display your DIY phone charms. 

You can create accounts across several social media platforms to attract a following, which can be converted to customers.  

You can brand yourself and carve out a niche in the market of phone accessories.

While you only need a small capital to acquire materials, selling DIY phone charms is, admittedly, not a startup business idea that's low-barrier entry. 

Competition is stiff, and even if you don't intend to be the next CASETiFY or other high-end brands out there, there exists a multitude of less-known brands and crafters across different social media platforms, hoping to get a portion of the market.

In spite of this, you can focus on the uniqueness of your DIY phone charms and slowly develop a brand and carve out a niche for yourself.

For example, you can be known for your bright, bold designs, or a more muted and toned down palette. 

You can cater to teens and pre-teens by adding pendants or charms of pop culture or cartoon characters. 

Most of the customers who buy phone charms are girls and young women. But why not cater to boys and men by using black, navy, gray, and brown beads? 

For men who enjoy sports, there are beads that look like golf balls, basketballs or footballs, or those that come in the colors of their favorite NBA and NFL teams.  

There are also pendants of Marvel superheroes, anime, and video game characters. 

Also, it's crucial to keep in mind that the phone charm market attracts members of fandoms of hallyu celebrities (KPop idols and those who star in Korean drama). 

To illustrate, purple is BTS' official color. So if you were to create phone charms to entice ARMY (fandom name), you may want to invest in purple, violet, lavender, and lilac beads, and "filler" beads in complementary colors like yellow and pink. 

You can turn your excess supplies into other products.

You can make keychains, bag charms, and accessories like bracelets, earrings, and necklaces.

(**DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means I'll be collecting a commission once you click on any of those links and make a purchase.)

St. Kunkka DIY Jewelry Supply's
100 pieces/pack acrylic beads
for DIY and jewelry making

DIY Phone Charms: Materials 

500 grams/pack acrylic beads
for DIY and jewelry making
by ManilaGo

A seed capital of Php1,000-Php1,500 is enough to make around 60-100 phone charms. 

100 meters/roll crystal
DIY beading stretch cords
by ManilaGo

Here's a list of the essentials: 

• beads of different sizes, colors, and textures 
• nylon string  
• lanyard straps  
• pendants/charms

20 pieces/pack lanyard straps by
St. Kunkka DIY Jewelry Supply

4 pieces/set
Sanrio resin charms
by webeads.ph

2 pieces/lot cartoon anime Totoro
alloy pendants for accessories
by DIY Handmade Jewelry - PH

DIY Phone Charms: Procedure

For a complete tutorial, you can follow the videos embedded above.

*All figures in Philippine pesos.

The 7 Best Baby-Themed Scrapbook Kits From Shopee (Part 2)

This is now part 2 of the 7 best baby-themed scrapbooks I have rounded up from Shopee. 

Baby memory book
by E-Lifestyle

(4.) Baby Memory Book 

This delightful baby memory book measures approximately 8.26" x 8.85" and comes with pockets and a pack of decorative stickers. 

There are writing prompts throughout the pages and enough blank pages for parents to jot down their thoughts.

While there are 4 designs to choose from, all baby memory books and sticker packs are gender-neutral. 

DIY accordion-style
photo album by
Coisini_love.ph

(5.) DIY Accordion-Style Photo Album

If you'd like a unique approach to baby-themed scrapbooking, choose this blank, accordion-style photo album. 

Sold by Coisini_love.ph, this photo album is available in black and brown kraft paper and comes in multiple sizes. 

Freebies include corner stickers.

Buy this along with these embellishments:

craftykelmeti's foam
scrapbook embellishments

craftykelmeti's cupcake foam
scrapbook embellishments

(6.) Baby Memory Book/Baby Journal

Baby memory book/
baby journal by Snapteria

Snapteria's baby memory book that also serves as a baby journal offers designs for boys and girls.

The layouts are colorful, and the writing prompts suit the majority of parents and families. 

6" x 6" scrapbook album
by Just.Craft.Thing

(7.) Scrapbook Album  

This scrapbook album may be blank, but it's such a delight to work with for the following reasons: 

• It comes with pockets, into which you can insert baby photos and paper memorabilia like cards and notes. 
• You can DIY pop-up and pull-out effects.
• You use gel pens to enhance the pages with calligraphy, or handwrite text in cursive or printed letters.
• You can decorate it with stickers, die cuts, washi tapes, etc.
• You can put foam or cardboard letters. 

Buy this along with --

Dong-A Philippines'
7-color/set My Metal gel pens

The 7 Best Baby-Themed Scrapbook Kits From Shopee

A baby-themed scrapbook, in spite of being a seasonal craft, is one of the most popular themes in scrapbooking.

This is the reason brands and manufacturers never do without baby-themed scrapbooks and scrapbook materials.

Baby-Themed Scrapbook Kits: The Advantages 

Baby-themed scrapbook kits can be cost-effective.

There are baby-themed scrapbook kits that come with journaling elements like prompts, which make it easier for expectant parents to fill out the pages.

You can incorporate other materials from your stash.

If you have existing embellishments among your stash of craft materials, like stickers, die cuts, craft buttons, ribbons, washi tapes, etc., you can find ways to incorporate them into your scrapbook pages.

Manufacturers of baby-themed scrapbook kits provide a wealth of options. 

Scrapbook spreads, regardless of theme, are usually comprised of photos enhanced with embellishments, and supplemented with text like printed quotes, handwritten notes, etc. 

And yet, manufacturers of scrapbooks give plenty of options to scrapbookers. When embarking on the creative process, the sky truly is the limit.

While a lot of baby-themed scrapbook kits come with pockets, graphics or images, and journaling prompts, there are scrapbook kits with acid-free pages that are completely blank.

They also come in a range of sizes, leaving scrapbookers free to explore and experiment with different color palettes, templates, and techniques. 

Baby-themed scrapbook kits can be given away as gifts.

If you're not an expectant parent yourself, a baby-themed scrapbook kit can be an ideal wedding or baby shower present, or even a birthday gift for a pregnant woman, or an anniversary present for a couple. 

Any excess materials can be made into other crafts.

Leftovers from packs of baby-themed paper embellishments can be used to make a bookmark, greeting card, or gift tag.

Having said all of the above, I aimed to round up the 9 best baby-themed scrapbook kits on Shopee. Here they are:

(**DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links. Click here for this blog's complete policy on affiliate links.)

Baby memory book/Scrapbook/
Photo album/Pregnancy diary
by ARAW409Cm.ph

(1.) Baby Memory Book/Scrapbook 

This baby memory book/scrapbook doubles as a photo album/pregnancy diary, making it quite a steal for its price -- Php1,288.* 

It's also a multi-purpose baby-themed scrapbook that comes in 4 designs on the cover -- "Hello, Baby" bunny, Baby's first five years with 2 whales, a family of brown bears, and birds on a nest.

Each scrapbook design boasts of 6 large keepsake folders, where expectant parents can insert baby and family photos, trinkets, notes, prayers, cards, and other paper memorabilia. 

This baby-themed scrapbook kit comes with prompts, where expectant parents will be guided in filling out the following pages:

• pregnancy record  
• family information  
• birth information  
• more than 52 spaces for photos  
• growth record  
• 12 months spread  
• "meaningful things" spread 
• record of gifts received  
• record of tests and events  
• baby's day  
• miscellaneous details  

All these pages are safely secured by a gold double-coil binding.

Souvenir album
by qcmart

(2.) Souvenir Album

If you want a scrapbook with blank pages, this souvenir album from qcmart would be the way to go.

This souvenir album comes in a hardbound black cover, with A4-size black pages, and a hardbound brown cover, with A5-size brown pages. 

You can arrange photos and write on the pages as well. Metallic pens are ideal for this souvenir album.  

Buy this along with --

ddayupfun.ph's
4 sheets baby
scrapbook stickers

Baby journal
scrapbook decorations
by pawwstorere.ph

This souvenir album can be used for other themes, like weddings, anniversary, family, friends, travel, vacations, events, special occasions, etc.

Infantaway Collectibooks Baby's First Year
Memories Scrapbook by Infantaway & Co.

(3.) Baby's First Year Memories Scrapbook

This 40-page baby-themed scrapbook has a hardbound cover with a matte finish and colorful pages, which are bound by a double-loop wire. 

Unlike the 1st scrapbook kit, this memories scrapbook's prompts are enhanced by baby-themed graphics.  

With only 40 pages to cover a baby's 1st year, some scrapbookers might find it limited. 

*All figures in Philippine pesos.

7 Ladybug Crafts You Can Do

Looking for something fun and different to make? Why not try these cute ladybug crafts?

Why Ladybug Crafts?

You Can Select A Ladybug Craft According to Your Skill Level 

As a blog, Crafty in the City tries to cater to crafters and creatives of varying levels of skill and creativity. But, we would also like to encourage newbies by publishing tutorials that are appropriate to them.

You'll Get to Use Different Materials With These Ladybug Crafts

As a hobby, pastime, or even just a random activity that you do, crafting can never be boring. 

Why? 

Because you may be trying to create only one thing -- a ladybug -- but there are literally dozens of craft materials you can use to make it.

You Can Modify Any of These Ladybug Crafts

There are certain elements in these ladybug crafts -- colors, materials, techniques -- that you can incorporate in other crafts. 

You Can Share Any of These Ladybug Crafts to Children

If you have kids, are tutoring or babysitting kids, you can entice them and get them involved in any of these ladybug crafts. 

What's even better is, we have rounded up a list of ladybug crafts for various levels of skills and creativity, so you'll surely find something for the kids. 

And if you want to keep children away from the screen, even for just an hour or so a day a couple of days a week, why not introduce them to these ladybug crafts? 

Would you like to know how to help kids reduce screen time? Read -- 

How to Help Your Kids Reduce Screen Time Through Crafts

5 Best Ways to Wean Your Kids Away From the Screen 

These Ladybug Crafts Can Be Aesthetic or Practical, or Both

You can try making them just for the sheer joy and fulfillment, but you can also get children involved in order to improve their fine motor skills, and to make them mindful of constraints regarding time and materials. 

Having said all of the above, here are 7 ladybug crafts you can do and enjoy: 

Image from Red Ted Art
Click here for 
complete procedure.

(1.) Ladybug pop-up card 

At this age of instant messaging, emails, and video calls, who wouldn't appreciate the old-school charm of receiving a greeting card, and a pop-up card at that? 

Should you get done, you can try replacing the ladybug with a honeybee.

Photo from One Time Through
Click here for complete procedure.

(2.) Paper and felt ladybug

If you want to introduce children to different types and textures of paper, get them started on this paper and felt project.

Image from Creative Green Living
Click here for complete procedure.

(3.) Ladybug jar

Got any empty jars lying around? This upcycled project is both cute and practical. 

You can store anything inside this ladybug jar -- loose change, buttons, paper clips, or safety pins. 

You can even fill this ladybug jar with journal prompts written on sticky notes. Give it along with a pen and composition notebook to get a child into the journaling habit. 

Photo from Easy Peasy and Fun
Click here for complete procedure.

(4.) Paper ladybug craft

This is a fairly simple project that can be done with construction paper and cardstock, and would probably take only half an hour (or so) to make.

Photo from Crafts by Amanda
Click here for complete procedure.

(5.) Ladybug-painted rocks 

It would be so much fun to deck your pots and even entire garden with these rocks painted like ladybugs! 

What's even better is you can give some of these away as paperweight for a DIY gift. 

Image from Buggy and Buddy
Click here for complete procedure.

(6.) Egg carton ladybugs 

While this project is perfect for upcycling old egg cartons, a newbie in crafting might find it a bit complex to make.

Photo from Turning Clock Back
Click here for complete procedure.

(7.) Upcycled golf ball ladybugs

Got any random golf balls hidden somewhere in your chest of drawers or storage bin? 

Painting images of ladybugs on old golf balls can be an alternative to painting on rocks.

Upcycled Project: Old Magazines Turned Into Woven Placemats

Have you ever thought that one of the best ways to upcycle your stash of old magazines is to turn them into woven placemats? 

Upcycled Woven Placemats: Where and When Can You Use Them? 

Upcycled woven placemats can serve as elegant accents if you wish to incorporate elements of afternoon tea or ladies' high tea into the theme of an intimate get-together that you're hosting. 

It could be a bachelorette party or hen do, or something that will take place before you work with your group of ladies who are into knitting, quilting, journaling, or scrapbooking. 

You can handcraft a bouquet of carnations, place it inside a simple vase, or use a container like an old beer mug, an empty jar, or a chipped flower pot for a shabby chic charm. 

You can then use your container with handmade carnations as a centerpiece on a round table. 

If you have a long dining table, place a container of handcrafted carnations on each end. 

Click here for a complete tutorial on making paper carnations.

Upcycled Woven Placemats: A Way to Cut Back as A Host 

When you're hosting an event, even if it's something small and intimate, you might be pressured to bring out your finest china, glassware, and cutlery.

Add to the fact that you'll need to come up with food and refreshments, the costs of being a host might raise concerns.

Upcycling old magazines into woven placemats is a good way to cut back on costs and gradually reduce your stash. 

Also, woven placemats from upcycled magazines can be single-use accents. Even if your guests have spilled a beverage or left morsels of food, you can just gather and throw them into the trash once your event is done.

Woven Placemats as A Versatile Upcycled Project

You can modify this upcycled project to suit the theme and occasion. 

For starters, you can replace glossy magazines with old comic books for a children's birthday party. 

For a holiday party for your neighborhood block, you can use Christmas catalogues. 

(**Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I'll be collecting a commission once you click on any of those links and make a purchase.) 

Upcycled Woven Placemats: Materials

Here are the materials you'll need for this upcycled project:

• Old copies of glossy magazines  
• Paper cutter  
• Glue 

3S Angels Used
Good Shop's pre-loved
teen magazines

Upcycled Woven Placemats: Procedure

(1.) Select a few old magazines from your stash and leaf through the pages. 

Image by pikisuperstar

(2.) Think about your desired theme, and choose the colors accordingly. In the 1st photo, I used a template with light pink, lilac, and moss green hues. In the 2nd one, I chose brighter and bolder shades of pink with brown hues. 

(3.) Tear away the pages from the magazines with colors that adhere to your desired theme. 

Portable paper trimmer
by Crystal Image

(4.) Isolate a page and fold approximately an inch at the end of the page. And then, using a paper cutter, cut the page into strips of different widths. Make sure that the one inch  at the end of the magazine page remains intact. This will serve as your "main page." 

(5.) Use your paper cutter to create more strips of different widths. 

(6.) Gather all your magazine strips and weave them onto the main page. Ideally, you should combine complementary hues, sizes of text, and font colors.

(7.) Secure all strips from opposite ends by adding glue.

For Soon-to-Be Parents: How to Host A Crafty Baby Shower

Image from freepik

Are you and your husband expecting your 1st baby and would like to get some of your close relatives and friends together for a baby shower? 

This blog article aims to serve as a comprehensive guide for your crafty baby shower to be a smashing success. 

Why Is It A Good Idea for Soon-to-Be Parents to Host A Crafty Baby Shower?

As an event, a crafty baby shower can still be fun, albeit low-key and intimate.

While there's nothing wrong with soon-to-be parents who go all out and spend a ton to hire an event organizer for their baby shower, such an occasion can be celebrated in a low-key and intimate way. 

Working on a baby-themed craft as the focal point of a baby shower lends uniqueness to the event. 

And if you have introverted friends, they'll feel more welcome and worry less about the burden of making small talk if they're focused on a baby-themed craft. 

Food and refreshments can be simple and fuss-free. 

As hosts, you don't need to come up with a lot of dishes to satisfy your guests. 

You only need to make sure that your guests are fueled with enough food so they have the energy for crafting. 

You can DIY the baby shower decorations. 

Craft materials like twine, construction paper, cardstock, and scrapbook paper are relatively inexpensive, especially when bought in bulk.

You can incorporate elements of the baby shower's theme into some of the crafts. 

As parents, you might be going the traditional route and incorporating pink or blue as your baby shower theme. 

Or, you might be deviating slightly and choosing colors like yellow, violet or lilac, or green. 

You can also choose cartoon or pop culture characters, like Barbie, Sanrio, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Marvel superheroes, BT21, or video game characters like the Super Mario Brothers. 

One of the advantages of hosting a crafty baby shower is you can incorporate certain elements of the baby shower theme into the crafts. 

To illustrate, if you chose a yellow-and-violet theme, you may provide yellow and violet fabric paint to decorate plain onesies or bibs.

You can omit giveaways or loot bags.

After working on a baby-themed craft, each of your guests will have something they can proudly call their own to take home. 

This alone will save you from the expense of placing an order for giveaways or contents for a loot bag.

And not having to worry about coming up with giveaways or what to put inside a loot bag can make you stress less when organizing your crafty baby shower.

Planning A Crafty Baby Shower

Come Up With A List of Negotiables and Non-Negotiables

Take a piece of paper and write down "Non-negotiables" and "Negotiables" on top, and decide accordingly.

Items among your list of "non-negotiables" might be "playlist of upbeat tunes," "baby-themed cake and pastry," and "baby shower games." 

On the other hand, your "Negotiables" might include "cutlery can be made of plastic," "food can be served on paper plates," "it's okay to use plain napkins," etc. 

The Venue 

For a low-key and intimate crafty baby shower, your home is the likeliest venue for you to host this event.

The Invitations 

You can cut back on costs by skipping the paper invitations and designing a digital invitation on the free feature of software like Canva. 

Make sure all information -- address, date and time, as well as contact information -- are accurate. Email the invitations to everyone on your guest list.

DIY Baby Shower Decorations

Ideal baby shower decorations are a bunting of onesies, a diaper cake as a centerpiece, and baby-themed cutouts. 

You can put baby-themed cutouts as well as the date of the baby shower inside a large picture frame, and place it on top of a long table filled with food for your guests.

The Menu 

As I have mentioned above, you can serve food and refreshments that are simple and fuss-free, since your guests only need to be fueled and satisfied to work on baby-themed crafts later. 

For starters, you can place bowls of nachos with several kinds of dips. Or, you can come up with a recipe for tuna spread for your guests to spread on soda crackers.

You can then serve a platter of finger sandwiches, pasta, and fried chicken.

Photo Booth Props

Your guests will not only have the privilege to take home a baby-themed craft. By providing photo booth props, they can also take plenty of photos (and make memories) using their phones.