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Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

August 15, 2017 By Laura 2 Comments

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This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Any supplies used may be given to me free of charge, however, all projects and opinions are my own.


Let’s make some creative dorm room decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets! This is a simple project you can alter in so many different ways to personalize it for your favorite college student!

Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

Have your kids gone back to school yet?

This week, our Xyron Design Team is making all kinds of creative projects perfect for starting off the school year in style!

There’s so many DIYs on Pinterest for back-to-school gift ideas for teachers and students…but what about a fun gift idea for a college student’s dorm room decor?

I got this idea when I was at Walmart recently and spotted this inexpensive magnet board:

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

I love making gifts that are useful as well as decorative, so that’s how my idea of dorm room decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets was born!

This Summer, I’ve shared a few magnet projects here on Pet Scribbles, all easily made with Xyron products.

The twist on today’s tutorial?

These magnets are pretty and sophisticated — perfect for the college girl’s dorm room decor!

And for guys? Just choose masculine cardstocks and you can do this exact same tutorial.

FTC Disclaimer: I’ve received products/compensation as part of the Xyron Design Team. This tutorial for pretty magnets, however, is 100% my own project! Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. I explain more here.

Supplies:

  • Xyron® Creative Station Lite
  • Xyron® Laminate/Magnet Refill Cartridge, 5″
  • Pretty cardstock in florals, glitter, foil, etc.
  • Diecut machine (I used my Sizzix Big Shot)
  • Tim Holtz Gadget Gear Dies
  • Swingline Paper Trimmer
  • Scissors
  • Bone folder

Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

Tutorial:

Step One: Using the Swingline Paper Trimmer, cut decorative cardstock down to a size that can fit through your die-cutting machine.

(I mention the Swingline model, in particular, because it cuts multiple sheets at once! Love how fast this step is!)

Step Two: Run your decorative cardstock through the Xyron Creative Station Lite, using the Xyron Laminate/Magnet Cartridge.

Helpful tip: It’s easy to switch out the cartridges in the Xyron machines. Click here to see my step-by-step on how this is done.

Place the cardstock into the machine and gently push until you feel it stop moving. (Do this gently!)

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

Turn the handle to move the cardstock through the machine. The cardstock comes through turned into a laminated magnet!

It’s magic!

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

Use the orange lever and slide to the opposite side, in order to easily cut off your magnet.

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

Use a bone folder or other sharp edge to press down around the edges of the cardstock. This is optional, but helps to make sure there’s a clean line around your magnet.

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

Step Three: Using your die cutting machine of choice, cut out some fun gear shapes in different sizes.

I used the Tim Holtz Gadget Gear Dies. There are three gears in different sizes, and you can use these for so many different projects!

And again — for guys — these gears also work perfectly. Just choose cardstocks they’ll love.

Once you have your cut-out shapes, all that’s left to do is punch out the excess parts with your fingers.

You can see below how many pieces I easily removed from each gear. Not many at all!

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

And here’s what the leftover laminated magnet cardstock looks like:

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

Helpful tip: Save all of your leftover laminated magnet pieces (above and below). These may come in handy for other projects used with other dies!

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

And now you have pretty magnets for dorm room decor — and to keep organized too!

These magnets are made with glitter cardstock:

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

What’s nice about using glitter paper?

The laminate seals the glitter, so there’s no glittery mess on your hands, but you still get all of the sparkle!

I also used foil cardstock that was already embossed:

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

I really love the embossing on these gears — makes them look like industrial metal — yet also very feminine and…pretty!

I made several magnets using a floral cardstock that also had glitter here and there in the design:

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

Here’s a close-up so you can see the glitter details:

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

How about some gears in trendy plaid patterns?

Dorm Room Decor: Easy way to make pretty magnets!

There are so many different ways these gears can look, just depending upon the cardstock you choose to use!

Here are the glitter magnet gears on that magnet board I found at Walmart . . .

Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

And close up for detail . . .

Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

Here are the floral magnet gears on a rusty magnet board . . .

Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

These magnets make great teacher gifts too!

Dorm Room Decor: an easy way to make pretty magnets!

Another back-to-school magnet idea . . .

For another creative back-to-school idea, check out my fun clipboard with a pencil-shaped magnet I made using the same Xyron products!

DIY stamped pencil clipboard and magnet

Even more back-to-school ideas with Xyron . . .

Check out our Xyron Facebook page all week long, as my fellow Xyron Design Team members share their own clever back-to-school projects!

Happy crafting!

~Laura

 

More from my site

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  • How to make a beautiful paper leaf garland!How to make a beautiful paper leaf garland!
  • How to make a lovely foil doily garland!How to make a lovely foil doily garland!
  • How to Make a Sparkling Pink Snowflake GarlandHow to Make a Sparkling Pink Snowflake Garland
  • Useful Teacher Gift: Stamped Pencil Clipboard and MagnetUseful Teacher Gift: Stamped Pencil Clipboard and Magnet
  • How to Make Charming Decorative Vintage Style MagnetsHow to Make Charming Decorative Vintage Style Magnets
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Comments

  1. ginger says

    January 16, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    i have a huge problem i hope you can help me with hon! i paid 600 dollars for a huge collection of sizzix paper doll sets and had a blast today making magnets! well i did something wrong of course.. the dolls themselves are fine.. but all the work i put into making the clothes didnt work because the magnet/laminator xyron of course didnt work with the clothing..they just fall off! what shall i do to remedy this? shall i use the repositional one for the clothes? i feel so silly asking.. please help!! a sister scrapper, ginger

    Reply
    • Laura says

      January 17, 2018 at 11:42 am

      Hi Ginger,
      The magnetic paper dolls sound like so much fun! Let’s figure out how to attach the clothing. I’m sending you a private email to see how we can remedy this.

      Reply

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Pet Scribbles is where I share my craft tutorials, home and garden projects, and occasional stories about my cats. I can never have enough pretty craft paints to work with, and I love to make things look time-worn with distressing and aging. Gardening is my therapy!

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