Need a really cheap way to make some magnets? How about using the free paint sticks from the paint department?
That's just what I had on hand after winning a auction lot of crafty wood supplies for $2.00. In the assortment of hundreds of items was a zip lock baggie of paint stir sticks. Mid sized ones that are approximately 6 inches long.
As soon as I saw them I knew they would be cute as primitive snowmen. Then I thought MAGNETS!
And here's how I done it. Super Simple and CHEAP!
I let them sit and dry in the sun about 2 hours or so. One coat was enough for me.
Then I brought them inside and used a roll of magnetic tape that I had on hand from Wal-Mart. It was only about $3.00 a roll I think, and it goes a long way. If you've ever tried them, you knw the single, round magnets are best and my favorite for almost all other magnet projects with a stronger hold, but for these lightweight sticks, these are fine.
They already have a strong tape on one side that you just peel and stick, after cutting to your desired length.
For some reason next, I started working backwards. lol. I usually paint all the faces, then bodies, then add homespun. But for some reason, probably being it was around 3am, I just mixed and matched and jumped back and forth when I got bored from noses,to bodies and homespun. lol.
Oh well, next time!
They were really starting to come along!
And I started to add some rosey cheeks to make some different. And different eyebrows.
You really can't go wrong as you see. I just experimented with different everythings. lol
And if you look close, I took a sponge with a touch of barely any black paint on it, and roughed up the white a little bit. To make it look a bit more aged.
My next batch, I am definitely going to take more time on them. As you can see, I was just hurry stenciling on the bodies and it shows big time. But the faces I did free-handed.
And then when done, I put them in little plastic baggies. You can buy many different sizes of baggies in the wedding section in WalMart. But I had about 10 of these bags from a previous order of thermometers, that I'd saved. lol. Yes, I save lots of stuff! lol
I still have to add a topper price tag. I use the Avery labels to print them off on handmade crafts such as these. It just makes them cuter. And I also staple a little piece of homespun beside the price tag. I just gives it a more country look. But I haven't done that yet, so I don't have a pic.
But here's another few pics of how they ended up. Really cute snowmen magnets on free paint sticks if you ask me! lol.
The snowman wooden spoons inside the pitcher above, you can find the post on how to make them HERE: HOLIDAY WOODEN SPOONS.
And many thanks to Eyeballs by Day, Crafts by Night, for that great craft idea. I went on to make some of them into spoon refrigerator magnets also. It turned out great! But just use the round, stronger magnets for the spoons if you try it!
And one last pic:
I priced these for $1.99 each for sale in my Peddlers Mall Booth #555 and Etsy.
Are you going to try making these cute Snowmen Magnets from free Paint Sticks?
