Craft Corner: Magnets

When I first arrived Bahrain, I noticed we only had one refrigerator magnet. Chris said he didn't see any others when he unpacked and thought they might have gotten lost in the move from Nigeria to Bahrain. Chris's beloved periodic table of elements magnet magically made it just fine. Suspicious maybe? Hmmm. When we were engaged, he told me how much he hates cluttered refrigerators. I told him I thought that was weird since refrigerators were magnetic for a reason! So maybe he just left the other magnets on the fridge in Nigeria? I'll never know unless he fesses up!! :-) Just kidding...I trust him!

So once I was in Bahrain with no magnets, I kept complaining to Chris because there were things I wanted to put on our fridge! I was really bummed and finally decided to do something about it after complaining for a few weeks. Since Chris and I each have a "fun money" account that we put money into every month, I decided I wanted to use some of my "Mandy's money" to buy new magnets. I went onto a few different specialty magnet websites but couldn't believe how much people were wanting for one magnet. It would've been $50 to get a handful! I then went to etsy.com. I loooove that they sell all things homemade and was hoping there might be some adorable homemade magnets for sale. They had a good selection, but I noticed one recurring magnet looked very easy to make. The asking price seemed much higher than what I figured it actually cost to make them. In comes the idea to just make my own.

I don't know who first thought of this idea - probably the DIY channel or something, but I'm grateful for whoever did. I don't know if I could be so creative on my own. Of course I went overboard and bought WAY too many supplies after having the great idea to make lots so that I can give them as hostess gifts whenever we get invited to someone's house for dinner. If I had just bought enough supplies for my fridge only, doing this magnet thing would've been dirt cheap...which is probably why so many people are selling them on etsy for an easy profit!

Okay, so the supplies you need: flat glass marbles (a.k.a. decor gems) or plastic cabochons, round magnets, silicone glue, and stationary (or cute mini pictures from magazines). I bought everything online, so even my friends overseas can do this! The flat glass marbles came from a place called Crystal River Gems and everything else is from JoAnn's.

As an important side note, the flat glass marbles can break if they fall to the ground. They variate slightly in shape and are not a perfect circle. If you'd prefer something unbreakable and perfectly round, use flat plastic cabochons. They can be found here. They are more expensive than the flat glass marbles, and since I decided I wanted to make hundreds of magnets, it was cheaper to forego the plastic cabochons this time around.

Making these marbles is so fast and easy...I promise! Seriously, I don't even need to blog about how to make them. I know everyone could figure it out with just a picture! Nonetheless, here's the instructions:

Here's a picture of the flat glass marbles. I got a larger and smaller size to make my magnets with.

The first thing you want to do is trace a circle around the flat glass marble on the paper you want for the magnet background. The flat glass marbles are not big, so a little stationary goes a long way.

Next, place some glue on the front side of the paper. Yes, do this on the side you will see when the magnet is finished. I find using a toothpick to apply the glue helps. I like to use the toothpick to slightly spread the glue around, but you don't really have to do this. When you press the flat glass marble on top, you will see the silicone glue spread to the edges.

This is what your magnet-to-be will look like when you press the paper onto the flat marble.

Allow me to take a brief commercial break to present this adorable picture of the cutest baby in the whole world.

Okay, now back to the task at hand. The next thing you want to do is place a bit of glue on your magnet and then press that onto the backside of the paper. Let this dry for at least a 1/2 hour before attempting to hang on your fridge (I learned the hard way).

These are all the magnets I made in about an hour's time, give or take a few minutes to watch after Charlotte.

Here's a close-up and side view of the magnets.

Here's our fridge all magnetized! Now I need more pictures of my family and friends to put on here. Send pictures our way and I promise they'll go on here! :-)