Junk Drawer Crafts

I made these simple junk drawer crafts for a fundraiser coming up.  I call them “junk drawer crafts” because they are recycled crafts literally made out of items I found in my horrendous kitchen and completely unorganized kitchen drawer (I was totally inspired to do this because I’m watching Craft Wars…awesome show!).

I decided to make kitchen magnets out of these items I found:

• Scrabble tiles
• Used gift cards, flyers, and business cards
• Paint color swatches
• Bottle caps

Here is a quick two and a half minute YouTube video I did for these if you prefer not to read! LOL By the way, I apologize for saying “um” so much…

The Scrabble tile magnets are self-explanatory.  I actually had these left over from two crafts I had done last year, Scrabble tile art and Scrabble tile Christmas ornaments.  You simply make words, cut your gift card to size (they are the most sturdy), hot glue the tiles onto the card, and glue a magnet onto the back using a strong bonding agent like E6000.

The bottle cap magnets are essentially the same idea.  I had made these before with Mod Podge and recycled Christmas card photos.  This time however, since they were for a fundraiser and not me I used Easy Cast which is a Craft Casting Epoxy.

Materials:

• Bottle Caps
• Paint color swatches
• Craft Casting Epoxy
• Wooden stir sticks
• Two disposable plastic cups
• 1” Circular craft punch or a quarter and a pencil
• Small Stickers
• Round magnet
• E6000 Multi-Purpose Adhesive

First cut out the circles using your craft punch out of the color paint swatches.  You can get these in a variety of colors at any hardware or paint store. Place the desired sticker on top.  Consider using holiday, sports themed, school themed, or letters.  Next place it into the bottle cap.

Follow the instructions for your casting agent or resin.  For Easy Cast, you mix equal parts resin and hardening agent in a plastic cup.  Stir it for two minutes.  Transfer the mixture into a second cup.  With a new stick, stir for another minute.  Carefully pour the solution on top of the magnet.  Bubbles will appear, however they will go away as the solution hardens.  Allow it to dry.  I let mine dry overnight.  Attach your magnet to the back using a strong bonding agent like E6000 Multi-Purpose Adhesive.

Since these were for a fundraiser I made small packages using treat bags, scrapbook paper, and printed address labels.  Consider making these for stocking stuffers, party favors, or teacher gifts too!