DIY: Animal Magnet – ism…
Today, I am sharing a tutorial on making your own fridge magnets. Sure, you can tack things on the fridge with your local insurance agent’s magnetized business cards, but this is a way more colourful, and fun way to do it. And, it’s easy. I am giving full credit and a big thank you to Megan of the wonderful blog, Feathers and Freckles. My DIY below, is a little different than hers; you can check out her version here: Animal Magnets DIY.
Photo #1 Supplies required for this project are:
- One dollar store package of animals.
- Knife and Mallet. Mallet optional but recommended.
- Paint – I used my Kroma acrylic artists paints, but I suggest you use regular ‘ol craft paint for this little project. No need to get too spendy.
- Small paint brush for painting animals.
- Magnets – In the photo you can see the magnet strip that I bought from the dollar store. It turned out to be pretty much ineffective. It stuck to the fridge, but wouldn’t hold as much as a photograph. See below for my upgraded choice.
- Glue – I used Gorilla glue.
- Photo #2 Unnecessary, but cute picture of my animals
- Photo #3 Time to cut your animals in half – ouch! This is not a task for children, or clumsy adults. If your animals are hard to slice, I suggest that you carefully establish a cut in the toy, and then tap the knife with a mallet until you’ve completed the full cut.
- Photo #4 Half-way there. HA HA
Time to paint your animal halves. I mixed my own colours {just showing off my artistic skills, bwah-ha-ha-ha}, and painted my animals turquoise, pink, and gold. You could paint them all one colour, or get really crazy and give them a polka dot paint job. I used an office clip to hold them, and touched up the leg once the body was painted. You could also put a push pin into the backside and use that as a handle. Now it’s time to allow the paint to dry.
Once the paint has dried, apply magnet with a dab of glue. Here you can see my groovy magnets that fairly dance their way to the fridge. These are neodymium, or rare earth magnets and I purchased them at a local electronics supply store. It’s one of those man shops that the mister likes…all sorts of connectors, transistors, semiconductors…well, things I call doodads, line the narrow aisles. Here is a link to Amazon.com if you are interested, or you can check out your local hobby shop. Once the glue has set, you can have fun displaying your photographs with the help of your own personal wild kingdom, or barnyard menagerie.
I have a very happy and colourful fridge now.
Linking With:
Faith Hope and Charity for Ta Da Tuesday
Clairejustineoxox for Creative Mondays Blog Hop
A Cat-like Curiosity for Super Handmade Sunday
Jann at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday,
Allison at House of Hepworths for Hookin Up With HoH Thursday Link Up
31 Comments
They came out great! Love the colors you used. And I wish I had a mallet around when cutting my animals in half – that would have made my life easier 😀
Wow, so cool. And so pretty! I would not have the patience to do this project; probably would have mangled the poor animals. 🙂
Hi Megan, Thank you so much! Your blog is so much fun to read.
Hey Kelly. Somehow I can't see you mangling the animals, 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Sue!!!
Love Love it!!! 🙂 🙂
happy, fun colours. Wonder what Sammy and Mia think?
Shirl
They are adorable 🙂 Thank you for visiting us at Pret-a-vivre.com
Hi Elizabeth!!! Aren't they the cutest things. I haven't been able to find dollar store animals in the shapes of cats and dogs yet. But, if I do…Thanks for commenting.
Sue xo
Hi Shirl! Well, they don't smell like food, or move on their own, so they are pretty uninterested. They didn't even knock them off the table which is a good thing.
Thanks for popping by Bi Ti. Looks like we're both making cute things this week.
Crazy cute! I love the hot colors:) I dont have a magnetic fridge anymore, but pinning anyway!
Jessica
What fun!
Oh my gosh, Sue. I MUST make these with my daughters. So adorable and fun.
I actually love these! So creative and trendy, totally want to make these.
Oh my gosh, these are so fun! My 14 year old grand daughter is here tonight. I showed them to her and she loved them. Thanks for sharing with Share Your Cup. Happy to be following you.
hugs,
Jann
Well, you have a gorgeous kitchen Jessica. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Have fun Alison!
Maybe a good snow day project!
I'm impressed that your teenage daughter likes them. Yeah. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks ever so much for following.
Sue xo
These are totally brilliant and really cute. I wonder if I'd feel guilty chopping the animals in half – silly me 🙂
Thanks for linking up!
Sarah @ A Cat-Like Curiosity
Hi, Sue, these are so cute! I love the way you painted them, but I like the idea of polka dots, too.
I've been meaning to let you know that the invisible velcro I mentioned in my post are just clear velcro dots. Because they're clear you really don't see them. Also, funny you should mention red glasses – I'm looking for some new glasses, but hadn't thought of red. I don't know if I want a strong color, but maybe I should think about it!
Ha Ha…I had the same feeling, but I got over it. 😉
Thanks, I will look for those. I think you should try some red specs on and see how you feel.
I thought I was so over the fridge magnets until I saw yours! Wait till I show Alexandra…she will like them too! They are so modern & love the colours. Thanks for visiting our blog again & it's wonderful to know we are blog neighbors…. Wasn't it a beautiful day today!
Denise
Love these, they are so sweet. Great idea pinning now 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us at Creative Mondays,following back on GFC …
This is so fantastic! I must follow you because you mention a colors! I live in colors
Aha, these are wicked!
Thanks for pinning and following back!
Aw, thanks so much Natasha. I really appreciate you following along.
this are adorable! love the metallic colors!
Okay these are so adorable!! Totally love them… my kids and my kindergarten students would LOVE them. Thanks for sharing this awesome idea!! Glad to meet you and thanks for your visit at thehappyhousie!!