No secrets here at all. ;) Almost everything I know I learned here:

http://www.megan.scatterbrain.org/notmartha/tomake/marblemagnets.html

pictures of fabric here:

http://www.jaymelee.com/gallery/fabrics

and here:

http://www.jaymelee.com/gallery/liliparis

You can also cruise your favorite online fabric stores and save their pictures to your hard drive by right clicking on the pic and selecting "save picture as". This is how I got quite a few of the pics I used (I don't actually have all these fabrics in my stash).

Forgot to talk about the actual magnets. I like to use rare earth magnets, they're extremely strong and very slim/low profile. I got mine on ebay from this store: http://stores.ebay.com/Rare-Earth-Neodymium-MAGNETS_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm

For the small pebbles I use 0.275" disc magnets and for the large pebbles I believe I used the 0.4" discs (though it may have been the 0.5").

Feel free to ask me any questions you might have!

Oh very cool! I really liked your magnets that you did for the swap (although I didn't end up swapping after all). This is definitely a good way to keep a little part of some beloved fabric if I ever sell it.

:thumbsup:

pssst. you are my hero. and I'd still love to get a set of your magnets. if you are concerned about duplicates maybe you could choose a summer fabric theme for this go round. if you opt not to please consider offering the opportunity up to the board in case someone else would like to take it on.

LOL I had no idea these were the fabric magnets you all were talking about! I made a a set of the Not MArtha magents for my friends for Christmas and I was thinking of possibly doing that here. Now I kow someoneone else beat me to it!

too funny.

How do we go about getting a mod to post a thread on the FAQ board? I'd love to see this there so that I can find it later!

Amber

I'll move it there once people have a chance to view it here.

I love Megan's site! :thumbsup: Never thought of using fabric though, great idea. DD loves playing with the ones I made her (animals cut out from magazines).

I really liked the magnet link she posted (I didn't get to see her magnets in person) so I copied for 2 birthday gifts - John's sister and brother. I used 30mm gems instead of the 18mm so I could use family pictures. I also took fabric pictures. Sorry the pic is so fuzzy, didn't realize it was bad until I uploaded it and the magnets are already gone. I tried to use images that made me think of them, the pink one is purses (which was SILs favorite).

I've already got more ready to go. The girls also made some 18 mm ones. Ara made letters, which turned out really cool. If you are looking for an innovative way to make fridge letters, this is really easy and they look really neat.

I'm planning on doing some w/ the little boy I babysit using his photo for his mom for mother's day.
I think I'll have to do a few more for us too.
Kanji symbols would be cool... hmmm....
And the letters would be great for the kids to "play" with...
Lots of options...

Very cute! I love the alphabet idea...maybe next year when Brendan won't be as likely to eat them. :rolleyes:

Those are great! I LOVE that "mean Monie" picture, I think that's my fave sig pic of yours. :) Those would be an awesome gift for my Mom.

I love this project! For as easy as they are, there's something oddly satisfying about making these little magnets. Squishing the pebble down into the glue and getting a magnified image of your picture...very fun!

Where did you find the larger gems? I'm almost out of the ones I bought at Michael's a couple years ago and now I can't find any that are clear enough to use. I thought I might try some of the 1.25" acrylic cabochons from Tap Plastics, but they're $1 *each*. :eek:

remind me again...how do you do this? i'm thinking of making some for dh for fathers day (he is WAY into hanging junk up on the fridge. never enough magnets for that! LOL)

Yes please share about your supplies, I plan on doing this for many relative gifts this year

Sarah

I bought the big ones from www.megaglass.com There is a $5 fee for ordering under $100 but thier prices are great, even with that. They do sell the 30mm at a mosaic store in town but they were 4x the price.

Basically, what I did was take digital pictures and make them small and put them in a word document. I put about 15 on one page. I meaured and resized each as I put them in to make sure that the subject would fit in a 1.25" space. Then I went to reprodepot and took some cute prints and made a sheet of those along with some of my kanjis. I then went to kinkos.com and uploaded them and sent them off to be color printed. Cost is .99/page but since I could get so many into a word document it was only $3. The color printing at kinkos is on thick paper and very high quality, so it was perfect for this project. Then I used silicone sealant (like you use to stop leaks) and put a dab on each picture (doesn't take much), then pushed down in the center of each gem. Let them dry, then took a razor knife and cut them out. I found it easiest to cut them out with scissors (just a big square around them) and then take the razor knife and just run it around the edges. I'm not explaining that well. I'll take a pic next time, it saved tons of time. Then I had bought 3/4" magnets (a big pack) at micheals. I used the sealant to glue those to the back. The mags are heavy duty enough that they held the big gem plus a paper or picture on the fridge. Jayme got her magnets online.

I think that is it. Really easy project but everyone was very impressed. They couldn't figure out who I did it. I was thinking about getting some light blue ones and looking for mermaid and fish prints to put under them for a fish lover. This could get addicting.

I think a trend has begun ;) Would you mind putting this in the craft FAQs? I'd love to try these one day.

I'll type up another with digi pics since we are doing more this afternoon and put it there. I didn't see the way I do the razor blade on any site and it really makes it easy and saves time.

we have a photo printer -- do you think it would work with photo paper?

Originally posted by kerc
we have a photo printer -- do you think it would work with photo paper?

I did mine with photo paper and it worked great. I have some that I made a long time ago and the picture quality hasn't degraded at all.

Yes, that would work. We only have a black and white laser printer, that is why I sent mine off.

Make sure that you get the right glue!!! Don't get Crafter's Goop!!!! Don't get the magnets close to each other just after you've glued them together!!!! My first batch came out HORRIBLE! But I will persevere! I will try again!!!!

Amber

It's spring break this week for my kiddos. I think this would be a great project for my 11 yr old dd. Okay I can see how I will be able to make this project last some time having her search for images, and learn to resize pictures, and put them on a document etc... sounds like fun, with a cute and useful ending product!!! Thanks for the good directions :)

If anyone needs magnets I have a bunch...like 900 or so of the little tiny powerful rare earth ones, they cost me about 5c a piece. Jayme used similar ones from the same place.

Originally posted by sveasmommy
Make sure that you get the right glue!!! Don't get Crafter's Goop!!!! Don't get the magnets close to each other just after you've glued them together!!!!

I agree that the right glue is very important. Also wanted to mention that I glue the images to the pebbles, let them sit 1-2 days until dry and then use a glue gun to put the magnets on. The hot glue dries super fast and is great for sticking the magnets on.

You mean you aren't impatient like me? I just glue them, cut them, glue on the magnets, done. The silicone sealant dries quite fast though.

Basically, what I did was take digital pictures and make them small and put them in a word document. I put about 15 on one page. I meaured and resized each as I put them in to make sure that the subject would fit in a 1.25" space. Then I went to reprodepot and took some cute prints and made a sheet of those along with some of my kanjis. I then went to kinkos.com and uploaded them and sent them off to be color printed. Cost is .99/page but since I could get so many into a word document it was only $3. The color printing at kinkos is on thick paper and very high quality, so it was perfect for this project.

Then I used silicone sealant (like you use to stop leaks) and put a dab on each picture (doesn't take much)
http://www.harmonythreads.com/images/mag1.jpg

Then pushed down in the center of each gem until the silicone goes to the edges of the gem. Let them dry.
http://www.harmonythreads.com/images/mag2.jpg

I roughly cut them with scissors. Then take razor knife and cut them out. I just run the razor knife around the edges at an angle with the gem. This cut them just the right size and went really quick. I tried cutting them on a cutting mat with the razor, but holding them in my hand and zipping around went much faster.
http://www.harmonythreads.com/images/mag3.jpg

Then I had bought 3/4" magnets (a big pack) at micheals. I used the sealant to glue those to the back. The magnets are heavy duty enough that they held the big gem plus a paper or picture on the fridge.
http://www.harmonythreads.com/images/mag5.jpg

I also made this awful set for Bernice. My dh has the knack for taking horrible pictures of people - mouth hanging open, chewing, etc. I took pictures of Bernice, Chris, Ayla, and Lily that are really funny and made them into magnets. I didn't have a funny of Rosy, so she is just nice and smiling. I'm sure B will love them
:muaha:

That heart in the lower right corner of the picture, what is that? :D

Originally posted by dehart
That heart in the lower right corner of the picture, what is that? :D

Ara's name. She wanted to do a heart one but I bought those as an after thought, so I didn't have any pics sized to fit it.

Those came out AWESOME!! This could be great for doing hiragana alphabet magnets. :) Oh, dear - another project and possible addiction, LOL! :D

Originally posted by arasmama
Ara's name. She wanted to do a heart one but I bought those as an after thought, so I didn't have any pics sized to fit it.

Where did you get that heart gem? Is it one of the "tiny treasures" from the megaglass.com site? Shannon and I are putting together our order, dontcha know? ;)

How did you like the quality of the gems from megaglass.com? Are the large pebbles clear and free of bubbles? They look good from here, I'm just a bit concerned because the only ones I can find in B&M stores are awful ~ full of bubbles and scratches on the surface.

Originally posted by dehart
Where did you get that heart gem? Is it one of the "tiny treasures" from the megaglass.com site? Shannon and I are putting together our order, dontcha know? ;)

How did you like the quality of the gems from megaglass.com? Are the large pebbles clear and free of bubbles? They look good from here, I'm just a bit concerned because the only ones I can find in B&M stores are awful ~ full of bubbles and scratches on the surface.

ooooooooo...need a third partner?;)

Allison-those are lovely!!

Jayyyy-meeeeeeeee? Don't suppose you'd order some for me would you? I like the look of these

Ice Clear Small Circle Mosaics Tiny Treasures, 19mm, Bulk Bag (~165 pcs.)
Transparent ice clear small circle mosaics with a 'wet' polished finish.
SKU #92204 Our Price $7.03

I don't need 165 of them, but I could find a use for them I suppose.

Originally posted by dehart
Where did you get that heart gem? Is it one of the "tiny treasures" from the megaglass.com site? Shannon and I are putting together our order, dontcha know? ;)

How did you like the quality of the gems from megaglass.com? Are the large pebbles clear and free of bubbles? They look good from here, I'm just a bit concerned because the only ones I can find in B&M stores are awful ~ full of bubbles and scratches on the surface.

Yes, tiny treasures, sku #91304 on the hearts.

Some of these had flaws on the bottom, but I discovered the flaws just need to be filled with silicone so just put a little extra on when you use those. The silicone makes them whole. I did get 1 broken one out of the 36 I bought. They didn't have bubbles though.