Fun with the Kids--Clothespin Magnets

I am going to admit that I am a fridge Nazi.  I only let certain things on my fridge.  I told myself if i ever got stainless steal appliances I was never going to cover it all up with papers and magnets.  And now i have one, and so i have stuck to my guns.  I do use the side of my fridge for a few things here and there since the side is black and it won't cover up any of the silky sheen of the stainless steal.  But my magnets are not matching or even that strong and if I am going to have something hanging I want some form of unity for it all.   I decided, after an eye-numbing jaunt from blog to blog, to make some magnets.  I found myself mesmerized at Twice Remembered with her beautiful home photos and great makeover projects.  On Kim's sidebar and in some of studio pictures I saw these cute little jazzed up clothespins and since I couldn't find the post for just the the clothespins (although i am sure it is on there somewhere, i just didn't need more than the snapshot) I just sat down and made some myself.   I spent Sunday afternoon with my recently turned 4 year old and 5 year old working on these clothespin magnets and it was so fun.  It was something they could all do, and it looked better with their help than if i had done it myself.  Before you call them in to help, you will want to do a little adult prep work.  My fridge is stainless steel and black, so I sprayed the sides that would be exposed on my clothespins with just one coat of Krylon black spray paint. While they were drying I used a clothespin to measure and cut strips of card stock to fit both of the flat sides of the clothespins I wanted to use.  Once all that is done you are ready to bring in the kids for help. 

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:

Spray Paint (for prep, if you want)

Clothespins (I am using the mini ones)
Scrapbook Paper
Mod Podge/small paint brush to spread it
Magnets (I used Rare Earth Magnets i found on Ebay, they are small and super strong)
E600 craft Glue
Sandpaper

HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Once you have done your prep and your kids are ready to help.  Get out a paint brush for your little helpers and have them spread a thin layer of Mod Podge on the flat sides of the clothespins. Since we all know a thin layer is all relative when kids are gauging, then you can place the paper on it and wipe any excess, repeat step on the opposite side. 

2. Once they are all done, the first ones will probably be dry enough to sand.  I was doing this step with my kids trying to make the painted sides and the edges of the paper look nice and worn, and my kids clothespins were turning out so much cuter than mine i gave the job up to them.  I was being way to careful and organized about it, but their reckless method of sanding produced much better and authentic results.  So they sanded them down for me.  ( I wish i had a good close up picture, but my camera broke so i am back to the old one which is quite old and about as many mega pixels as a cell phone, so the pictures lately will be much less detailed until i can get a new camera).

3. After they are sanded down, brush them off with a very damp paper towel and have the kids Mod Podge over the rest of it and set it out to dry.  My 4 year old had pretty much given up at this point so after my 5 year old painted the Mod Podge on, i took a clean brush and evened it out while she went on to the next one. 

4. Once it is completely dry you can attach you magnets.  I think that the magnets they sell at Micheal's aren't worth it.  There is nothing worse than a magnet that can't hold anything, or ever worse, slides down your fridge without even having anything to hold.  So I did some strong magnet research and found these great strong magnets on ebay in a variety of sizes.  Just type Rare Earth Magnets into the search and you will find all sorts of disc and cube shaped little silver magnets that really are strong.  A lot of them offered free shipping.  I got 50, for $8 that are 1/4 inch, so tiny enough to fit on my clothespin without showing from the front, and it really does hold.  So, if you use those, glue them on with the E 6000 craft glue, that stuff is like nails, seriously strong.  But don't set them too close together to dry because the magnets will attract each other and it will slide them off the glue before it is dry. 

That's it!  Cute magnets, fun project, QT with the kids. . . hard to beat that!