DIY Marble Magnets

Lilly, who is 2 1/2, is a total artist (at least she thinks she is. She is.). She's been into drawing spiders (which look like suns) with happy faces and a door (don't ask). And the thing is, they're really cute. Who'd have thought a spider with a door that looks like a sun smiling, would be super cute. But they are. My sister-in-law got her an easel from Ikea for Christmas, and she loves to draw and paint and wear her neon green smock. With all these pieces of art hanging on our fridge and stuffed in the crayon drawer, we needed somewhere else to display the favorites. 

Which lead me to these ideas:

Cork board + push pins + toddler = NO.  

Magnetic chalkboard + chalk = potential chalk on my walls, NO.

Magnetic board + magnets = WIN. 

So on Thursday, I am revealing Lilly's new display board in her bedroom! And yes, you'll see a spider/smiley sun. Any cute magnet board, requires a bunch of cute magnets. 

I remember in middle school (early 90's. Ugh.), I had a ton of these handmade magnets in my locker. Most of them had a teeny photo of a boyfriend, best friend, or favorite band logo under a clear glass bead. Whatever was under the bead would then be magnified, and look pretty neat. For Lilly's, I just left these plain, because I was in love with the blue colors in these beads.


Here's how to do this (in literally less than 30 minutes plus a little drying time)...

Gather your supplies: 

scissors
paper or photos (if your beads are darker, you won't need paper)
glue (hot glue works too)
round magnets
marble accents (check the floral/vase filler section at your local craft store, these have a flat bottom and were about $3 for the whole bag)
pen

Trace & Cut.
I used thicker white paper (card stock or construction paper will work; this is actually art paper from Ikea) because the black magnet shows through the beads, making them too dark. If you're using darker beads, or ones you can't see through, you probably won't need to deal with the paper step. If you're using a photo, cut the photo to size. I traced the magnet, then cut my circles. I'm sure you could use a craft punch if there's one the right size, though.

Glue the Paper.
Hot glue would be so much faster, but I did this with Lilly; I didn't need her burning her fingers, so we opted for craft glue. Any glue that dries clear will work just fine. Smear it on, and smoosh the paper in, making sure the edges are glued down.

Glue the Marble.
Spread another dab of glue on top of the paper, and stick the marble - flat side down - onto the paper, making sure to squish out the air bubbles.

Repeat for the rest of the magnets, and let dry.

These took a little while to dry because my kid is heavy handed with the glue, but I just left them on my windowsill for the afternoon. Once they're dry, they're ready to hold your spider/sunshine drawings!

Tune in Thursday to see these cuties in action!