Easy Character Magnets

Do you ever have one of those days where you know you have to find something constructive for yourself and/or the littles to do before everybody just loses it?  Yeah.  We had one of those days last week.  I had to come up with a project, and fast, or else LC or I {or both} were going to end up in a rubber room.  So, I raided my stash to see what we could do that was quick, easy, and free.  Here's what I came up with.

 

I'm sure you've seen some form of these before; they're certainly not my original concept, but here's how we made ours.

 

We had:

- clear glass stones {available at craft stores}

- a bunch of old issues of Family Fun and Parents magazines

- Mod Podge {any kind will do}

- scissors

- paint brush

- magnets {ours were from our friends at Craftprojectideas.com}

 

Step 1: I had Little Crafter look through the magazines to search for images/characters he liked.  When we found one, we'd place a rock over top to see if enough of it would fit.  If it did, we ripped out the page.

 

Step 2: We chose a different rock for each image and traced it onto the magazine page.  Then we cut out the image.  Each rock is shaped differently, so you have to be sure to keep the right rock with the right picture.

Step 3: We applied Mod Podge {ours was the Kids' Washable formula, but any kind will do...even sparkle, if you like} to the back of each rock with a paintbrush.  Then we placed the rock on top of the picture and let it dry.

Step 4: Once they were dry, we hot-glued our magnets {thanks, Craftprojectideas!} to the backs.  You could use Mod Podge for this step too, but a certain someone wanted to hang them up five minutes ago, so we opted for something that set faster.

Here's a quick look at my personal favorite: we actually found an image of Little Nutbrown Hare.  You may remember that the book Guess How Much I Love You is particularly special to LC and this artsy mama {did you see the quilt square I made?}  Anyway, here he is:

 

Here are several of the others...he found Boots from Dora the Explorer, Perry the Platypus {we had to use him twice}, another fun rabbit, the Cat in the Hat, and a dinosaur that was on an ad for an ice cream cake.  My apologies for the photo quality; these are ridiculously hard to photograph because of the glare, and my poor Nikon DSLR is out of commission at the moment because I did something really dumb...another day, another story.  Anyway, this is the best I could do, but I still think they're cute, don't you?

 

LC looooves them and has already put them to use holding up his precious artwork on the fridge.

Now, brace yourselves, are you ready for this?

 

I'm keepin' it real...

I promise there's a fridge under there somewhere...

Meanwhile...let's play scavenger hunt!

 

Can you find:

 

Something Ravens?
Something Orioles?

Two Paul Frank monkeys?

A cupcake, a rocketship, and a heart magnet LC painted?

Two photos of my dad?

Darwin Joel, the cutie we sponsor through World Vision?

Two clothespins I made with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge?

A red dinosaur?

 

Ok, enough of that...hope you have a fun day, and of course,

Happy Crafting!