Posted by Curry S. on Jan 23rd 2020

Dorm Room DIYs: Mini Magnets

Looking for a simple way to spice things up in your locker or on a boring filing cabinet? Maybe your mini fridge needs a makeover. Whatever your reason, we put together simple DIY magnets just for you! Best of all? They’re perfect for your back-to-school budget. Inspired by trends like geodes and succulents, we collected household items like bottle caps and corks, and paired them with items like foam, felt, glitter, alcohol and acrylic inks to create the perfect handmade decorations.

Here’s our store-bought supplies list:

Glitter

Yupo Paper

Felt & Foam Sheets

Alcohol Ink

Magnet Sheets & Buttons

And here’s a list of thigs we had laying around:

Scissors

Corks & Bottle Caps

Geodes

To pull off the geode look, we cut out a piece of Yupo Paper and applied the Jacquard Pinata Alcohol Inks directly to the paper. These inks react to each other creating interesting shapes, colors, and cell-like effects. Because these are so lightweight, we cut strips out of the magnetic sheet and adhered them to the back of the Yupo once it was dried.

Succulents

Like the Yupo paper, these succulent magnets are relatively light. We cut pieces of the magnetic sheet and adhered it to the felt pieces once the succulents were assembled. We printed out some illustrations for reference and then got to cutting out our own shapes! Once we had our pieces cut out and organized, we used the hot glue gun to glue everything together.

Sparkles

When in doubt, add glitter. We spruced up some bottle caps and corks using Mod Podge, glitter, and some Amsterdam Acrylic Ink. Mod Podge is great because it not only works as an adhesive, but it can also be used as a sealant in a pinch. It dries clear making the item it’s adhering or underneath the star of the show. For the bottle cap, we did layers of Mod Podge and glitter. Every time a layer dried, we added another until the cap was filled to the brim. For the corks, we used Mod Podge to seal the cork, then painted a gold layer with Amsterdam Acrylic Inks. Last but not least, another layer of Mod Podge to adhere the glitter to the cork (just make sure to add the glitter before the Mod Podge dries!).