April FreeHand Scraps Kit: Magnet Board Tutorial

As soon as I opened my April FreeHand Scraps kit and saw the guest checks, chalk bubble, Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon embellies,  Scrumptious Basic Grey red patterned paper and cork heart, I knew I wanted to make a magnet board for my kitchen stove-top area.

What you will need:

• 1 frame*
• photo-editing program like PSE/PS (Photoshop Elements/Photoshop)
• photo paper, printer

From April's FHS kit: 

• 1 sheet of Basic Grey "Scrumptious" red patterned paper
• guest checks
•  Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon embellies
•  chalk bubble
•  small circular magnets* 
• Paint-A-Mag* (I used a 40%off coupon for this item and have alot left over).
• Jillibean Soup corrugated frames  
• sheet metal: Obtained from local hardware store--I cut it down to size (12 x 12) with my DH's tinsnips but one could pay a small price to have it cut down at the hardware store.  Make sure you buy a sheet metal that attracts magnets. :)

(*denotes items purchased at Michael's (big box craft store here in the United States).



I started with this frame purchased 50% off at Michael's = $10 (Score!) I removed the premade scrapbook page and placed the red patterned paper from the kit into the frame. Just make sure the side of the patterned paper you want used is facing the correct direction in the frame.

Then I ran to my local hardware store and purchased a piece of sheet metal. It was about $5 and I have some left over for another project. (Yeah, the guys at the hardware store were loving little ole me coming in and asking for sheet metal! You should've seen the looks on their faces when I proceeded to tell them what I was using it for. Priceless!)

Place the trimmed sheet metal behind the patterned paper, toward the back of the frame. Then add the cardboard that came with the frame back into the frame to help hold the layers together. Clasp down the layers into the frame with the metal tabs that are a component of the frame.

Next, using Photoshop, I selected a picture of each of family member and resized each photo to fit the openings of the corrugated frames. Be sure to leave a small border/margin around each picture. This will come in handy later when you glue the newly made photo magnets to their corresponding corrugated frames.

I created my photo collage in Photoshop using a 4x6 format and printed it out on 4x6 photo paper. (I don't like wasting anything, so I added an extra photo to the collage and reserved it for another project).

I glued the trimmed photos to the corrugated frames, running adhesive around the perimeter of  each photo.

Then I used liquid glue to adhere the Paint-A-Mag material to the photo. Tacky Glue or Tombo permanent liquid glue both worked well. (I did place a heavy book over the photos to prevent warping while the glue dried).

Also, be sure that the black, magnetized side of the Paint-A-Mag faces out as shown below.

I turned the Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon embellishments into magnets quickly by adhering the small circular magnets to each with Glue Dots.

The chalk bubble was also made into a magnet by the same process I described earlier.

Arrange the photos and embellished magnets to your liking and you are good to go!

 The finished project sits just to the left of my stove-top in my kitchen, perched on a recipe book easel.

NOTE: Since the framed photos are magnetized, they are frequently moved around to the person "Thinking/Stating" what he/she wants for dinner. My family actually has had a few small disputes over who gets to write on the chalkboard each day! :)

This whole project took less than 30 minutes to make and cost less than $20. If you have further questions or want more explanation, please leave a comment on this post and I will comment back. 

I really enjoyed playing with this month's kit and this magnet board has quickly become a favorite altered project of mine (and my family's!)

Have a joyful day!

Suz