Thursday, March 22, 2012

Magnets & Felt

 MAGNETS

Ever since we got a new fridge some months back and learned it is not magnetic, I have been sort of mourning the loss of that magnetic play space for the kids.  I say sort of because I actually really enjoy the fridge's front being free and clear of clutter.  But still, having a place for the kids to play with magnets is fun and sometimes very practical, and I missed it.

 I recently came across this idea (via Pinterest, of course!) and have been wanting to do it for weeks.  I finally put it together this week....it was super easy!

1 Oil Drip Pan 
(I got mine at Wal-Mart in the auto section.) 
1 1/2 yards of thin fabric 
(Make sure it's thin so that the magnets still work.)
+
A hot glue gun
+
 3M Picture Hanging Strips
=
A fun and big and relatively cheap magnet board for the kids!

 


Some tips, if you decide to make this:  

You might want to iron the fabric before putting it on.  I envisioned pulling the fabric really taught so that the wrinkles were released, but then realized that if I pulled it too tight, the magnets wouldn't stick, as the fabric would no longer be flush with the front surface of the pan. By the time I figured this out, I had already glued half of the fabric edges to the back of the pan, and didn't want to start over.  

Plus, I HATE to iron.  Hopefully the wrinkles just go away with time. =)

FELT

Remember this felt board that we put together a while ago?  Well, we haven't used it in a long time, as that particular shelf has been situated with its back to the wall.  Well, we've once again done some rearranging, and the felt board is visible.  This time, I wanted to have some felt letters for the kids to play around with. The thought of cutting out an entire alphabet by hand was not appealing, and I knew it would look awful.  So, I actually bought 2 inch felt letters from JoAnn's.  The only problem was they are peel and sticks, so they of course wouldn't work on our board.  To remedy that, I stuck all of the peel-and-stick letters (and numbers) to some other pieces of felt and then cut out around them. 




I am excited about all of the ways these spaces can be used in the months to come!

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