Make a DIY Magnet Board

Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful summer! My name is Traci, and I blog at Beneath My Heart.

I am so thrilled to be guest posting here at Tatertots and Jello today. Thank you, Jen, for having me. 🙂 I do not know about you, but I am amazed at how quickly the school year is approaching. My boys start school next week! Wow! (Yes, I might have just jumped into the air and clicked my heels together in glee.) Just kiddin’… No, I’m not. 🙂

To help your kids (or you) stay organized this school year, I thought I would share with you a very easy DIY magnet board that I made for my boys 🙂

This magnet board is the perfect place to store notes, reminders, or special keepsakes.

Here is how I made it (in less than an hour!)

I purchased a 24×24 inch sheet of STEEL from Lowe’s for about $10.00. They have all different kinds of sizes, so you could make your magnet board smaller or larger if you wanted. I also bought two 1x2s from Lowe’s. Get the cheapest 1x2s you can find. These were $1.97 a piece.

For the embellishments, I bought three different types of “tacks.” Bronze furniture nails, Nickel furniture nails, and large head galvanized roofing nails.

I decided to go with the bronze furniture nails (upholstery tacks) for this project. I started by using a hack saw to cut a piece of wood 24 inches long…

Then I used a straight edge to mark where I wanted my tacks to go. (You can space them however far apart you would like. You could also use different color tacks or large head wood screws.)

The upholstery tacks where not strong enough to go through the steel without breaking, so I created a starter hole with a nail.

Again, you can space the tacks apart at any distance you prefer.

The picture below just shows you how the wood was placed on each side. I would flip it over and nail the tacks into one side at a time.

After you finish nailing all the tacks in, you are done! How easy is that?! Now my magnet board was plain when I hung it in my boys’ room, but I was wondering what it would look like with some lettering on it. So I uploaded my pictures into Picnik and added my boys’ names on the board to see what it would look like. I loved it!!

So I am planning on creating vinyl cutouts of my boys’ names using my Silhouette machine. If I didn’t have a Silhouette, I would probably purchase some stencils and just paint their names on.

In the next picture, I added my son’s name in blue to see how that would look…

CUTE!!!!

Now you are probably thinking that this type of board would only look good in a boy’s room. Oh no, my friends! Look how cute the board looks in my office!!!….

I am needing a memo board for my office space, so I am thinking about purchasing a larger sheet of steel to go across my whole desk area. Wouldn’t that be great?! Maybe I will use the silver upholstery tacks to give it a little more “bling”. 🙂

For fun, I added my monogram to the board through Picnik to see what it would look like…

Again…I love it! Who would think a piece of steel could look so feminine? Here is the memo board with my favorite saying on it (added through the magic of Picnik, of course.)…

So there you have it! A great little magnet board for your child (or you) to start the school year off right! For less than 20 dollars….“holla!” And if steel on your walls is just not your thing, check out the tutorial on my blog to make “Ballard Designs Inspired Magnet Board.”

You can learn how to make these through a written tutorial, or a video tutorial, whichever you choose. 🙂

Thanks Traci!!

What a great project.

And what a great idea as we all start thinking about school starting again!!

Traci is one of my favorite bloggers. Not only is she super talented, but she is also so warm and real.

Here are a few of my favorite Traci projects:

{Super Easy DIY Valence}

{I adore Traci’s Laundry Room – so pretty!}

{Traci’s Burlap Chair Makeover makes me happy}

And Traci’s Wednesdays With Wanda touch my heart each week.

You will love getting to know Traci.

Head over to Beneath My Heart and say hello!

xoxo

Comments

::MilaMook:: says

August 15, 2011 at 4:45 AM

I love this idea and plan on making one for my little boy this week. Question… what did you use to hang this on the wall? I want something sturdy enough he wont knock it off accidentally. Suggestions?
Kelli @ RTSM says

August 5, 2011 at 2:15 PM

I love the added interest of the names and nail heads! We have a similar magnet board in our kitchen that my boys play with all the time!
Sue (Someone's Mom) says

August 2, 2011 at 11:13 PM

I really wish I'd been blogging when my kids were still home. This is one of those great ideas I could have used when our lives were so busy we couldn't keep things straight!
Tonya says

August 2, 2011 at 9:21 PM

LOVE!! You are all of over the place Miss Traci! I've seen multiple posts from you on multiple blogs over the last couple of days!! You must be one busy lady!! 🙂
Traci@ Beneath My Heart says

August 2, 2011 at 7:31 PM

Hey friends!
Beautiful Mommy Princess, you are right. 🙂 I meant to say steel. Jen graciously changed it for me. Sorry for the confusion.
And Becky, the edges are not sharp, but the corners are. However, once you attach it to the wood, the corners are not really dangerous anymore. 🙂 You could also use a hammer to gently tap the corners down just a bit to get rid of the sharp edges, if you want. I have done that before. Thanks! 🙂
Becky Garling says

August 2, 2011 at 7:11 PM

Love this, but are the edges sharp?
Heather says

August 2, 2011 at 6:50 PM

this is great! thanks 🙂
P. says

August 2, 2011 at 3:55 PM

great idea, I think I'll try it. I could use one for the kitchen 🙂
Beautiful Mommy Princess says

August 2, 2011 at 2:04 PM

I want to be as kind and loving as I can when I say this… aluminum is not magnetic. Please take a magnet to the store and test the metal you use before you buy.
Patty says

August 2, 2011 at 1:57 PM

Oh my gosh! I was wondering what to put on top of my boy's desk in the room I am making over and this is TOTALLY IT! So easy. I will have to make one this weekend.
Thanks and I'll be checking your blog now.
Crystal @ Ordinary Days says

August 2, 2011 at 1:39 PM

Super cute idea! I missed Traci's desk post somewhere. I will have to go back and look. 🙂
Kelly says

August 2, 2011 at 8:03 AM

i so need to make one for each of my boys. thanks for the tutorial.

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