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for the recommended time.

Now back to the fun part. Small, flat wooden shapes are available at most craft stores, which you can use cheap craft paints to decorate however you like. Pink sparkly hearts with sequins, black circles with skulls, glow in the dark pink and green bullseyes; the possibilities are limitless. Finish each item with a coat of glossy clear paint to make it look extra nice. If paint turns to blobs of indeterminate shape and color every time you try to paint the simplest thing, try cutting out parts of magazines and using mod podge (also found in most craft stores) to affix them to your wooden shapes. Scraps of fabric or ribbon can also be glued straight to the wood using elmer's or craft glue. (Craft glue will not buckle thin fabrics or paper like elmer's.)

Raid your junk drawers and the basement for interesting things to magnetize. My favorite magnets are the ones I made from old black plastic dials. They look very similar to the dials on my stove, and provide me with endless amusement. I stuck six extra knobs onto the stove, which baffled my mother when she came to visit and went to make tea. And what fridge doesn't need a volume knob?

Giant dice make good magnets, as do large googley eyes. The heads of old Barbie dolls can make an attractively macabre display when lined up along the front of the fridge. If, naturally, you have that sort of a sense of humor. Scrabble pieces, old wooden parcheesi pieces, and checkers all make interesting magnets. Once again, just stay away from anything particularly heavy, sharp, or fragile! You cannot make a magnet out of your unused bowling ball.

Have fun with it. You too can have the sort of fridge that makes people so impressed that they forget they wanted a glass of orange juice!

Learn more about this author, Zoe Mack.
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