Awhile back while perusing Etsy (I have no idea what I was looking for) I came across these magnets. They were cute cartoon versions of Harry Potter characters. My first thought was Fatts, (My best friend) loves Harry Potter. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. Her birthday was coming up and I thought they would be a perfect gift. I went back to Etsy and started looking around for them. Much to my surprise they were gone. It was a total bummer. I perused a little online for an alternative, but nothing was doing it for me. I don't know why but I had my heart set on magnets. So, magnets is what she was going to get. Since I couldn't find any, I decided to...make some! I'm nuts I know, and at this point I have at least 8 other projects going on. I don't know why I do this to myself. Fatima is the most awesomess friends ever, so it is worth it. We've been friends since we were in middle school.
Before I started, I had to make sure she was still into Harry Potter. The books and the movies have come to an end, so maybe it's not a big thing anymore. One day I concocted some made up story about there being another Harry Potter movie coming out (totally made up mind you). She apparently became intrigued and started Googling. What do you know, she found something. To both of our surprise, there is actually something in the works about a Harry Potter spin off. I don't know any of the details, but she found it and got real excited. So, I got my answer. She still likes Harry Potter, and I can move forward with the project. The funniest part will be when I remind her of this conversation. It is going to make it that much better.
I never made magnets before so this is going to be an adventure. I decided on 10 magnets total. 8 characters, 9 3/4, and the Hogwarts crest. I started with a circle, and began sketching. The goal was to fit the entire face inside of the circle. My first attempt at Harry was a complete fail. Then I started drawing Ron, and he turned out quite nicely. So, I decided to use the Ron sketch as a template.
I scanned the sketch into the computer, and imported it into my tablet sketch pad app. My Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 allows me to write and draw on it like a real piece of paper. It's A-MA-ZING!!!!! So first thing I did was buy a drawing app. Notice I said buy, because you know for me to buy an app it has to be pretty damn fantastic. It is by far the coolest app on there. I can take pictures and draw right on them as if I was using real life tools. Once the drawing was scanned in, I cleaned it up and created a base picture that I could use for all of them.
I took a stab at Harry again. Sketched a little, erased a little, played around a little more, and gave him a scarf. What do you know, attempt #2 was a success. I went back to Ron and did some more editing, and gave him a tie.
After the first 2, I was really digging the way they were turning out. The creativity had officially kicked in, and I finished all 8 sketches in a few days. Then came the color. My cool little sketch app also lets you color. (I told you it was awesome). One at a time I perfected them all. I couldn't help it, I was excited and couldn't put the project down. The whole thing was done in like a week. Can you tell who is who?
With the pictures done it was time to make the actual magnets. For this part I didn't have a specific direction. Like I said I have never made magnets before so I wandered around the craft store (Never a good idea. Always a surefire way of getting myself in trouble). They didn't have much in the way of just flat pieces. In Joanns I came across bottle cap shaped pieces. They were 1 inch in size, and came with clear pieces that fit on top. Not what I had originally pictured, but I liked them.
I created cropped versions of the images that would fit into 1 inch circles. I didn't want the pictures to be too small, so some of the image will get cut off. I printed 2 sheets just in case I jacked something up.
I did a trial run with one first. I painted the inside of the bottle cap with mod podge, set the image inside the circle, and gave it a firm press. I let it sit for a few minutes, and then gave it a couple of extra coats of mod podge. Can never be too sure.
I repeated the process for all 10 magnets
Now, to add the clear top pieces. They were actually intended to be adhesive. There was a sticky piece that was suppose to go in between the acrylic top and the picture. It took me awhile to realize this. I must have pulled off several circles before the light bulb went off.
I don't know if I was sold on the adhesive situation, but I gave it a go. I added the top piece, gave it a firm press, and crossed my fingers that it stayed.
The next morning I did an adhesive test. The top piece didn't move, so I figured it was okay. I went ahead and did the other 9.
I let them sit for a couple of days to really let the adhesive set in. Unfortunately, I picked one up and the clear acrylic dome fell off. Needless to say, I was annoyed and back to square one. I did some extra Googltubing on different solutions. The clear acrylic dome seemed to work sometimes, and other times not. An alternative was to use some sort of jewelry resin/sealer medium. The one everyone suggested required an Amazon purchase. I didn't have that kind of time so I went to Michaels and looked around. I came across Aleene's Jewelry Pendant Gel
I read the back directions, and it seemed to do what I needed. At this point there wasn't much time for trial and error. Her birthday was in a couple of weeks. I had to get this done.
The directions were basically pour in the gel and let it dry for 24 hours, then apply a second layer if needed. Seemed easy enough. I tested out one magnet, and let it dry over night. It came out well. I was pleased with the end result so I did the remaining 9. When all 10 had spent a couple of days drying and setting I hot glued the magnets to the back.
I let everything sit for a couple days, before I packed them up and sent them off to Fatima. I was hoping they got there in intact. I was worried the closed package might ruin them.
Fatima was out of town when they got there, but she got them a few days later. She LOVED them! Then I told her the story of me making up the Harry potter spin off to figure out if she was still into it or not. It was icing on the cake. We both just cracked up. Even more funny is that once she got them she didn't even want to use them. She wanted to frame them and hang them up on the wall. HA! I told her it was okay, I would send her the actual full drawings from my computer. So, some time in the coming months we'll be creating a poster version. One project ends and another one is created. That is my life....and I love it!
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