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Magnets are a personal display of our interests. What better way to express yourself than by creating your own unique magnets? Here are three simple magnet projects to inspire you to make your own magnets at home.

Bottle Cap Collage Magnets- Many people have bottle caps hidden away in junk drawers around the house. Locate a few bottle caps in your home and wash them. While they are drying, find small pictures to cut out or use favorite stickers to decorate the inside of the bottle cap. If you are using cut out pictures, take a toothpick and apply a small amount of ModgePodge to the back to keep the paper in place. Preserve image by applying 2 coats of ModgePodge or polyurethane (varnish) sealer. You can also decorate around the outside of the bottle caps with ribbon. Affix bottle cap to magnet using super glue or glue gun.

Felt Magnets- Have a few spare pieces of felt lying around? Think of some fun food categories such as fruits, desserts or breakfast food. Grab a pen and a piece of paper and make a drawing to get an idea of how you'd like your magnet shapes to look. Cut out paper shapes and use them as templates to trace on felt. It helps to pin them in place when you cut out the felt pieces. Now it's time to get creative. Decorate with fabric paint, beads and/or ribbons. Using the same paper template, cut a piece of flat plastic (such as an oatmeal container lid) to a shape identical to your felt food. Mount felt shape to plastic cut out with super glue or a glue gun. Mount felt shape to magnet.

Shrinky Dink Magnets- Go to your local craft store and pick up a Shrinky Dink kit. They run for around $6 per 8 sheets. You'll also need a set of colored pencils and a fine point black permanent marker. Take a sheet of shrink plastic and your permanent mark and start looking for images to trace. You can print them off your computer, trace over pictures on scrap kitchen wallpaper, or find illustrations in a favorite book. Once you have the image outlined in black marker fill in the picture with colored pencils. Carefully cut around your image. Now you're ready to bake! Heat to manufacturer's specifications. Once the Shrinky Dink has cooled apply 2 coats of ModgePodge or any other polyurethane (varnish) sealer. This will protect your image. Adhere to magnet using super glue or hot glue gun.

Now display your magnet art on your refrigerator or filing cabinet for all the world to see.

Learn more about this author, Sadie Sakura.
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