getting crafty.

I mentioned a few days ago how my college girlfriends and I do Secret Santa (Maccabee) exchanges. This is such a fun tradition and we get so excited about it that someone usually insists we draw names as early as mid-October each year. The rules have evolved over the years so that now, each gift must contain one bought present, one made present, and one found present (the latter one is always up for interpretation). For the first couple of years, the made present intimidated me. My friends are super creative and artsy and were always able to whip out amazing paintings or intricate terrariums or elaborate portraits done on a sewing machine. It was hard to live up to. Over the past few years though, I've found the motivation to push myself creatively and just try new things. They usually don't turn out quite like I envision but the whole fun lies in the fact that I really made something for a dear friend.

This year I decided to make my friend Emily three made gifts. I documented the process so the girls could see how everything was made, but also because I wanted to pass along the ideas since, if you're anything like me, it is hard to come up with doable, crafty ideas.

Today, I'll show you one of the craft projects that was simplest - magnets. These are pretty self-explanatory but like I said, these could just be an idea for you to use in the future. They are so fun to make and you can get creative with what types of pictures you use on them.

 I got two types of flat marbles - tiny colored ones and larger, clearer ones, all from Michael's Crafts. I bought two different-sized magnets accordingly. The colored magnets weren't meant to have pictures, so all I did was glue the magnets right onto the marbles. Boom.

For the larger marbles, I found random patterns and designs that I liked in magazines, and traced the marble's shape onto them so I could cut them out to size. I then used Mosaic Mercantile's Mosaic Tile Adhesive (which dries clear) to glue the paper design to the marble. At first it looks like it won't dry clear and that you won't be able to really see the design but give it time and it will look great.

Then glue the magnets to the back.  I did twenty magnets in under an hour. It's so easy. Including the smaller, colored marbles is a fun way to spice up the set. Get creative with the designs and pictures you use!

And...that's it. This is actually the second year in a row I made magnets because they are so easy and so fun to make and most people could use a little jazz on their fridges. In the future, I'd hope to print out actual photographs or maybe even use different design materials such as fabrics.