Magazine Holder- To Paint or Not To Paint

I need your help.


One of my sisters is a major piler (just like me). Her husband made a comment a couple weeks ago that they needed to buy a magazine holder for all her magazines. 


Well, I happened to find myself at Nood where they were having a massive clearance sale. I spotted their magazine holder and was happy to see it marked down from $57 to $28! Buuut.... $28 was still a bit steep. Surely I could make one or find a cheap little fixer upper. 


I also spotted some awesome bags that I REALLY want but just can't afford... even with the sale price. 

Sigh... can I justify buying one if I use to as my school bag? Or my travel bag for our class trip to Chile??


Anyways... I digress. What was I talking about?


Oh yes. Magazine holder.


So I was at the thrift store the other day and guess what I spotted??

At first I thought it was broken because the sides were wobbly. But I realized they actually fold like this:

Makes it easy to carry around or to store away if you don't have any magazines.


The wood's faded and there are a few nicks that I need to sand down but for the most part, it's in good condition. What makes it GREAT is that I got it for $5! $5!! Whoo hoo!


Here's where I need your help! Should I paint it? Stain it? Stencil it? I contemplated leaving it as is because I LOVE the look of zebrano wood but this is so faded that it doesn't look like this anymore:

Nood

Any suggestions??