Glass Bead Magnets

First of all, it is important that everyone realizes that I AM NOT CRAFTY! I am 150% right-brained, so I learned at a young age not even to attempt crafty-things because (as my art-major college roommates can attest to) I over analyze everything that I try to make.

However, that being said, I'm in the process of creating some gift baskets. And decided it'd be a nice touch to add something I actually spent some time/effort on. When I started this project I thought that I must be the only person in America who's never made glass bead magnets. But after posting that on Facebook, I found that there are a few others out there who also haven't had the pleasure. Hence - this tutorial.

STEP ONE: My gift baskets have an autumn theme, so I found autumny photos online and shrunk them down to a size that would fit completely under a glass bead (you know - the kind you put around candles, or in a flower vase). They ended up being a little smaller than 1 inch in diameter. I'm making nine baskets, and wanted to use 8 different images for each, so I did the math and printed out enough.

STEP TWO: It would have been easiest if I punched them out using a 1" craft punch, but moving's expensive, and our budget's tight, so I found a stencil I had instead. I held the paper up to a window and traced the 72 circles on the back of the paper.

STEP THREE: After all the circles were cut out, I used Sobo glue (which claimed it dried clear) and a foam brush and started gluing.

STEP FOUR: After getting a couple glued, I decided to look at them and make sure it looked like I was doing it right. This is when I freaked out - I could barely see the image. So I re-read the back of the bottle and tracked down the blog post from several months ago that I was using as my inspiration. She also used Sobo glue, so I decided to keep going and just wished for the best.

STEP FIVE: I let the glue dry overnight, and the next morning when I turned them back over to take a look at my fabulous handiwork, I freaked out again! They looked horrible! So, next came lots of muttering under my breath about how this is why I never try to craft, and what a horrible waste of time this whole project was (considering I've got a to do list stretching from here to Timbuktu). After a cup of coffee and feeding the kiddos breakfast I decided I had calmed down enough that I was willing to try to figure out what went wrong. I decided that the problem was probably that I didn't use enough glue. It looked like the middle section of each bead had adhered, but the edges hadn't. So, after more muttering I decided to try again. (After all the whole Facebook world knew I was attempting this project, and I don't handle public failure too well.)

STEP SIX: I had deleted the document I created with all the little images, so I ran to Michael's and bought scrapbook paper for the first time in years. I also bought more glass beads (which of course weren't on sale this time).

STEP SEVEN: I repeated steps 2-4. This time I decided to use a slightly larger circle on the stencil. And this time I put on what I was convinced was way too much glue. I let it dry overnight again, and the next morning fixed my coffee before I looked at them, just in case I was about to be discouraged again. But, to my delight they were perfect! I guess the trick is gobs and gobs of glue.

STEP EIGHT: I pulled out the magnets (bought at Michael's - $5.99 for 50) and glue (the only one I had on hand that didn't specifically say on the back not to use it on paper). I was fully prepared to mess up again, so this time I only glued magnets on two of the beads, so if I had to start all over again, I wouldn't pull out all my hair. I let them dry for an hour before dared to look at them, and they were perfect!

STEP NINE: I let my husband take the camera with him to Pittsburgh for the week (so he could get a picture of his car's odometer turn to 100,000 - in just 3 years). I didn't realize till after he was gone that I forgot to get a picture of the finished product on the fridge proudly displaying some of Alex's art work. So, please imagine that photo here:

STEP TEN: I decided not to wait till said husband gets home the end of the week to post about the magnets. So, I put the magnets in each of the gift baskets, blogged about them and crossed that item off the massive to do list.