Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Getting crafty: Making Gemstone Magnets

Happy New Year! Sorry its been awhile since I posted anything, the holidays had me MIA.
So I am back in action and decided to get crafty last night. I have been slightly obsessed with these gemstone fridge magnets from www.Leifshop.com. See here:  http://www.leifshop.com/products/gemstone-magnet-set while $38 for magnets felt a little steep I probably would have bought them if they hadn't been sold out. Each set includes 8 magnets; one each of: amethyst, pyrite, quartz, geode, and four colors of agate slices. While I was visiting my mom's house in Vancouver, she asked me to go through my old room and do some purging. While sorting through hilarious old pictures and mortifying diary entries I came across my old rock collection. Yes, I loved rocks and I still do, though these days I'm more into a diamond than a piece of amethyst. I would constantly dig through are garden hoping to find a geode, shockingly that never happened. Anyways, as soon as i found my little collections, i decided once i got home to New York I would make my own gemstone magnets.

Here is what you need:

1) Magnets.I ordered these round flexible magnets off of amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DD5FE8M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 I wanted them to be strong yet flexible so I could cut them to fit the stone if necessary.

2) Glue gun. I have this guy another amazon purchase that does the trick:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NIFKRM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3) Heavy duty scissors

4) Gemstones. If your not a nerdy kid like me and have a full collection sitting around in your old bedroom closet I would search  in a local jewelry or bead store or on websites like ebay, esty and amazon. Here is a few link to some ideas:

http://www.ebay.com/rpp/gemstoneshops

https://www.etsy.com/listing/195424554/12-pound-lb-dyed-baby-geodes-mini?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=supplies-low-other&ione_adtype=pla&ione_creative=49918020875&ione_product_id=195424554&ione_product_partition_id=82464281555&ione_store_code=&ione_device=c&ione_product_channel=online&ione_merchant_id=11060574&ione_product_country=US&ione_product_language=en&gclid=CMqcmsWwgsMCFcvm7AodXSIAFQ

https://www.etsy.com/market/agate_geode

http://www.amazon.com/Occo-Agate-Geodes-Tumble-Small/dp/B002GOW394

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E1T5MQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687702&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002GOW394&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0ETN2T7HNW36QAJGT9WX


Directions are fairly simple:

Heat up your glue gun. Once hot distribute a small amount of glue onto the flattest part or your rock, (obviously keep into consideration which side you want to be the front) stick on the magnet and let dry.  I had to trim some of the round magnets to fit onto the rock properly.

*Tip try and avoid heavier stones, I got pretty ambitious trying to put a chunk of amethyst on my fridge and it was just too heavy. Even with doubling up the magnets it just slid down my refrigerator door.

I was pretty happy with the outcome,though I think I have some more testing to do with the type of magnet and weight of the stone.  I was thinking they would make such a pretty house warming gift and could justify buying the rocks in bulk (which is how most are sold).

Id love to hear your thoughts/comments if you have any!





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