Custom Marble Magnets

 

These have been an addiction of mine lately! I can't seem to make enough of them, but I'm running out of refrigerator space to store them. So when Emily needed to come up with a product to sell in her 2nd grade economics sale, I knew right away what we would be making! These are fun to make, and the cost per magnet is only $0.19! (Yeah, we figured that out for the econ sale :) ) 

To start you will need: 

E6000 glue

Magnet buttons (found at Walmart)

Flat marbles 1/2" or 1"

Hole punch 1/2" or 1"

Popsicle stick

 

The marbles can be found at the Dollar store in 1/2" or 1" measurements.

 

 These hole punches cut the perfect size for the marbles. 

Now for the designs! Be creative, anything goes! I've used scrapbook paper, magazines, and printed up graphics. They all work. I've had some fun in Photoshop making designs and I discovered that Etsy.com has every graphic you could ever hope for in 1" round "bottle cap" image to purchase! 

If the paper you are using is thin you will want to put a layer of card stock in between the design and the magnet so that the magnet doesn't show through the paper. I print my designs on regular printer paper, then use the layer or card stock. I also use card stock with magazine pages, and most scrapbook paper. Yeah, now that I think about, I use card stock with most of the magnets I make!

Now to assemble:

Drop a gob of glue onto a piece of paper.

Get a little glue on your stick and spread it on the back of  the marble.

You don't want too much or too little, but err on the side of more. If you don't use enough glue there will be air bubble in the finished product.

You don't want too much or too little, but err on the side of more. If you don't use enough glue there will be air bubble in the finished product. 

 Now place the design onto the glue.

If you are using cardstock, apply glue to card stock and apply it to the back of the design. 

 Now you'll want to even out the glue and get rid of the air bubbles, or it will look like this!

Apply pressure to the back of the marble and watch the air bubbles spread out.

If any air bubble remain, smooth them out with your finger. 

 Let them dry for an hour or so, upside down, so they don't get stuck to the paper.

 After they are dry apply the magnets with a dab of glue. 

Allow the glue to dry for 24 hours before you hang them up. 

Now, try not to make to many, because I know you'll want to make ALL THE MAGNETS!! Just remember, your fridge is only so big... enjoy!!!

Thin Mint and Tagalong Sash tutorial

Sashes are great for the Thin Mints and Tagalongs costumes because their design is not as distinguishable at first sight. The other designs do well, design-wise, on their own, and I've found that the sashes take away from their design. I only make them for these two cookies, but it's up to you if you want one for each. 

To make the sash you will need:

White felt- you can get 8"X10" sheets at most craft stores, one sheet should be enough for the letters on one sash

Colored felt - 4"X 50" piece. I always have them cut 1/8 of a yard and it works perfectly

Glue - I use hot glue. I'm not sure what other glues would work for this.

First save the stencils above. You can make your own using Word or Photoshop if you like. It took some looking to find these online, so I figured I would save you all a step!

Print them all up. I use the Windows print and tell it print them 3.5 X 5", this will print 4 per page and they are the perfect size.

Cut out all the paper stencils, trace them onto the felt, cut the letters out of the felt.

 Line all the letters up on the sash.

 When gluing, leave the letters on the sash, pull up on piece of the letter, apply the glue, and affix it to the sash, then pull up the other side and do the same. I use hot glue here because it dries quick so I don't have to worry about the letters moving around while I wait for it to dry. Hot glue can get pretty messy though, I have a love/hate relationship with hot glue. If you only have a hate/hate relationship with hot glue, you can try using another type of glue. Every time I make a new sash I swear I'm using a different glue next time, but I keep coming back to hot glue :)

You can sew the sash directly to the front of the costume when you put it all together. Just place the sash on the front before you place the straps and the ribbons, then continue on with the assembly process.

Another option is to make it an actual sash. The letters for Tagalong take up too much room to be able to sew this sash on. Instead of changing the letter size I decided to make it a sash. Just Start the letters in the middle of the strip and sew the end in a diagonal line when you are done.