Monday, June 3, 2013

DIY - Magnetic Jewelry Board



The first thing you are going to need is a piece of sheet metal. The size of the metal doesn't matter but for this project I used a 12"x 24" piece of sheet metal I bought from Home Depot.


Once you have your metal you are going to want to drill some holes in it so you can loop through some thing (i.e. ribbon) in order to hang it. I would suggest watching this helpful video before whipping out your drill and damaging the metal, your table, or yourself. 


I drilled 1/4" hole 1" down and 2" in from both top corners of the sheet metal.


I decided to cover the edges of the sheet metal in ribbon because a) it makes a nice border and b) the edges are sharp. I used 1 1/2" ribbon you can buy at any craft store. I used a cheap sponge brush and applied a thin layer of glue to the top edge of the metal about 1" in width. I then pressed down the ribbon on the glue so that 1" was over the metal and 1/2" was over the edge. I then flipped the metal over and applied glue to the remaining 1/2" of ribbon and folded it over onto the back of the metal.



Then I cut two pieces of smaller 1/4" ribbon approximately 16" in length and folded them in half. I then attached the smaller ribbon to the metal by using a Lark's Head knot through the two holes I had previously drilled. I secured the two loose ends of each ribbon by sewing them together. 









I need to some magnetic hooks to hang my jewelry on and try as I might, I couldn't find small cheap magnetic hooks. So I decided to make magnetic hooks myself. I used 1/2"x 1/8" disc neodymium magnets, 20 gauge crafting wire, buttons (2 not 4 holes), and E6000 industrial strength adhesive. 

First I cut a piece of wire about 3" long.


Then I bent the wire in half.


Then I formed the folded end into a hook.


Then I put the two ends of the wire through the button holes and crimped the wire down onto the back of the button. 


Then I put glue on the back of the button.


Then I placed the magnet on the back of the button. 


Set the magnetic hook off to the side and at least 4 to 5 inches away from other magnets. Because the magnets are so strong they will snap together quickly and you will get glue all over your fingers trying to get them back apart. After I let the glue dry and set (approximately 24 hours), I had the perfect magnetic button hook :)




Now that you are finished with all the different components, it's time to hang it on the wall. I used some 3M Command hooks. Make sure they are strong and can hold a good deal of weight. I had to replace the clear adhesive backing on these hooks with stronger opaque adhesive backing and so painted the clear hooks silver.  Place the hooks on your wall where you plan on hanging you magnetic board. Hang your board and all your jewelry on the button hooks.  I used a bit of ribbon and some cross-stitch fabric to make an earring holder which I also hung on the hooks as you can see in the bottom left corner.   
And voilà, you're done! 




P.S. If you decided to make one, then I would love to see some pictures. Tell me what you think and leave a comment :)

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