SNOWMAN MAGNETS from FREE Paint Stir Sticks : Primitive Snowmen

 Super Simple and CHEAP Snowmen Magnets!

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!

Above, here you see them in the original, plain wood. I laid them outside on wax paper, on top a box and sprayed them with Rust-oleum spray paint in gloss white.

 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.

They held great on the unfinished wood. That's why I didn't paint the backs. Seems to be a better hold on these type of magnetic tape magnets.

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.

Above, I used stencils to do little stars and other designs down the body. Just to take up room. I now wish I'd left them blank for just buttons...

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.

If I put them in my Etsy store, I probably will have to raise the price and allow for shipping though.

Are you going to try making these cute Snowmen Magnets from free Paint Sticks?

CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT DISPLAY | Great for Craft Fairs or Displaying Favorite Ornaments

EASY CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT DISPLAY

I thought I'd share with ya'll a cute wooden Christmas tree that I use to display my Christmas tree ornaments in my craft booth.
It would also be a cute way to display some of your favorites in your home too!

I didn't make this exact one, however it'd be super easy to construct. 

I won this at an auction in Northern, KY for only $1.00!!! LOVE IT! 

It didn't have the nails to hold things or the strand of lights, but the body of it was great.
I am thinking about making another one so I can sit one on each side of my booth. So here's how it's constructed.

So simple. (sorry, it was a lil blurry, i took these first 2 with my iphone & no flash.)

You can see it's basically a cut out of a smooth type plywood, in the shape of a sad Christmas tree. I say sad because the lil limbs all hand downward. lol. And it's painted a forest green.

Here's a closer up look at it, very easy to construct: front: (these below i took with a real camera lol.)

The base is super simple. The front had a piece knocked off when I got it, but I think it just adds a piece of character. 

It's just a flat piece of wood, kinda think, maybe an inch and has a lil weight to it.

Side:

It's braced with only a simple piece of wood, cut in a rectangle, that holds the tree frame to the base.

Back: again, very simple construction

And there are nails from the bottom of it, up into the pieces of wood. It's never fallen over and I've had it loaded over the past few  years with ornaments.

To make for some hanging spots, I took some headless nails and tacked them all up and down the tree to give me some hanging spots like so:

And oh yea, i took a dry brush and streaked it with some black because I wanted it to look a lil older to fit the theme of my booth. I also wish I'd had old rusty looking nails at the time, but I didn't.

And here it is again, all loaded down and lit up:

Here's a better photo to show the ornaments hanging.

And I also have a bunch of the hand painted ornaments finally listed on my Etsy now.

Here's a sneak peek at some of them.

I'm still working on these, but they are almost ready!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SaltLickShop

I do believe these blue Frosty the Snowmen are my favorite. I just freehanded in a pipe at last second and love it. lol

And anyways, back to the tree display. Here's a side view.

 I hope seeing the way it's put together will help ya'll make one easier.

Well, I'm off to try my hand at one now.

Happy Crafting Ya'll,

~Lisa