Marble magnets Madness
I love those super strong flat marble magnets that can be found at those large chain discount stores. What I don't like is paying $8 for four magnets. That's too much money for magnets that I sorta like. My mind got to thinking and I figured that I could make some of my own. Magnets that had some style and would be fun are what I wanted. Sure all those cute flowers and letters are nice but I was imagining something cooler. Think of all the unique magnets you can make. I began by collecting my supplies. There are several blogs out there that give you instructions on this craft. Do a quick interweb search if you want details. The basic requirements are: flat clear marbles (found in decorating sections of chain craft stores), strong glue (I used super glue gel), a paper hole punch, super strong magnets and magazines.
The trick is to find a hole punch compatible with the size of your flat marbles and magnets. I went to the Michel's and found everything there. I used a half inch hole punch which was slightly smaller than the marble. I discovered that using super glue in gel format is much easier than its standard form. I opted to not go with the silicon glue for 2 reasons: needs plenty of ventilation and you'll need some sort of tool (toothpick) to spread the glue around. By using the super glue the tip is already narrow for placing just the perfect amount on the magnet.
Once you have the marbles, hole punch, glue and magnets then you'll need to scan your magazines. I found a wealth of interesting things in the Pottery Barn and other catalogs sent to me. Even the Sports Illustrated was a good one for some cool graphics. I did this project over a course of a few days. I spent a few days going through magazines punching out little pictures with the paper punch. It's the perfect activity for in front of the tv. The next step is to take those pictures you found and place marbles on top to see how they look. Expect about a quarter of the flat marbles you buy will be clear enough to make decent magnets. This is the tedious part of the project, sorting through the marbles to find the best ones. The fun is seeing how the marbles magnify your pictures. It is best to glue in steps. Having a cutting mat is handy when using super glue because it will keep your table from getting too messy. First I glued the pictures to the marbles. I let them dry a full day to ensure a good bond. The next day I glued on the magnets. If you are not careful there will be problems. The biggest problem is keeping the magnets from being attracted to each other and anything else. I had to be certain that I let these dry away from metal and be spaced far enough apart from each other so as to not cause a mess. Nothing like super glue in places you don't want it to be.
As you can see from the profile views the magnets are pretty reasonably sized. I found some wonderful pictures that made excellent magnets. These little magnets have been so fun to make. Maybe you too will want to make some of your own magnets.
The trick is to find a hole punch compatible with the size of your flat marbles and magnets. I went to the Michel's and found everything there. I used a half inch hole punch which was slightly smaller than the marble. I discovered that using super glue in gel format is much easier than its standard form. I opted to not go with the silicon glue for 2 reasons: needs plenty of ventilation and you'll need some sort of tool (toothpick) to spread the glue around. By using the super glue the tip is already narrow for placing just the perfect amount on the magnet.
Once you have the marbles, hole punch, glue and magnets then you'll need to scan your magazines. I found a wealth of interesting things in the Pottery Barn and other catalogs sent to me. Even the Sports Illustrated was a good one for some cool graphics. I did this project over a course of a few days. I spent a few days going through magazines punching out little pictures with the paper punch. It's the perfect activity for in front of the tv. The next step is to take those pictures you found and place marbles on top to see how they look. Expect about a quarter of the flat marbles you buy will be clear enough to make decent magnets. This is the tedious part of the project, sorting through the marbles to find the best ones. The fun is seeing how the marbles magnify your pictures. It is best to glue in steps. Having a cutting mat is handy when using super glue because it will keep your table from getting too messy. First I glued the pictures to the marbles. I let them dry a full day to ensure a good bond. The next day I glued on the magnets. If you are not careful there will be problems. The biggest problem is keeping the magnets from being attracted to each other and anything else. I had to be certain that I let these dry away from metal and be spaced far enough apart from each other so as to not cause a mess. Nothing like super glue in places you don't want it to be.
As you can see from the profile views the magnets are pretty reasonably sized. I found some wonderful pictures that made excellent magnets. These little magnets have been so fun to make. Maybe you too will want to make some of your own magnets.
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