Christmas Craft/Gift #1

Well, I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth.  I’m still here.  Things have been so busy at the day job I haven’t had the energy or any motivation to work on projects, but I was definitely missing it and you guys.

Can you believe it’s almost Thanksgiving?  Christmas songs have started on the radio, the stores are all decorated, shopping has started and I thought I need to get busy!

If you are anything like me, money is really tight this year, so I’m going to come up with some home-made gifts for family and friends, and I thought I would share some ideas with you guys.  So, in the next few weeks, I will post my projects and share some other great ideas from around blog land with you all for gifts and decorating for the holidays.  I think the decorating is one of my favorite parts of this time of year and I’ve got some really great things to share with you.

So, lets get started!

Now, I know this project has been done, I didn’t think of it myself and there are other tutorials out there on it, but I thought I’d share with you the steps I took to create these cute decorative magnets.

Here’s what you need:

1 bag of large clear accent gems.  Found these at Dollar Tree.  They are the large ones (about 1″ in diameter). There are about 25 in each bag.

Mod Podge

Small paint brush – foam or bristle

From K & Company Life’s Journey paper pad

 Any kind of decorative paper.  I used scrapbook paper and sheet music.

Magnet tape. – You need it to be kind of strong because the gems are a little heavy.

Scissors.

Glue Gun.

First, cut out your images to fit on the flat side of the gems.  I traced around the edge and then cut them out.  Each gem is a little different.

Excuse the horrible picture.  Didn’t realize I only took one of this stage and it was wayyy out of focus.

Then take a little Mod Podge and brush some on the flat side of the gem and place your paper piece face down onto the glue and smooth it on.

Ok…this one isn’t much better.

Brush a little more Mod Podge onto the other side of the paper to protect it.

Cut your magnet tape and hot glue it to the bottom of the gem.

And…Ta Da!  You are done!

I made 6 sets of 4 to give as gifts.

Arent’ they cute?

 Love the sheet music ones.

So, here’s the cost break-down.

$1.00 – gems
$.25 – paper
$1 – magnetic tape (It is about $1.99 for a roll and I only used about half.)

So, $2.25 for 6 gifts!  Not bad.

Linking to:

Home Stories A2Z Tutorials and Tips

Not Just a Housewife Show Me What Ya Got 

Creative Kristi Workin On It Wednesday