Corral The Chaos: Magnetic Embellishment Board

Get organized with a DIY magnet board.

If there is one thing I know it is this: If you wander around Home Depot for long enough, inspiration will strike. It’s guaranteed.

Confession: I much prefer an afternoon at Home Depot than an afternoon in a craft store. There is something about all the potential of those raw materials. I spent a good fifteen minutes perusing the stove vents to see what I can come up with. I got nothing on that one…but I did come up with this project which is exactly what I need for my overflowing collection of embellishments.

{1} Wiss MetalMaster Snips: Okay – now I know you may not have these one hand, but they really are a great tool for paper crafters. I first showed them to you in THIS post where I used them to cut apart my dies. They cut through most thin to medium weight metals with no problem.

{2} 12 x12 picture frame. You can find this at Michael’s or any other craft store.

{3} 12 x 12 Metal Sheet – you may wanna ask someone to point you in the direction of the metal sheets. In my Home Depot, they were tucked away on an aisle endcap.

{4} Decorative Aluminum Sheet. I opted for the Mosaic Pattern Aluminum Sheet. The sheets come in a 12 x 24 size, which is the smallest size available. This part of the project is completely optional, but I really like the decorative accent that it adds to the finished product. Since this aluminum sheet is not magnetic, it is a purely decorative top layer. The steel sheet in step #3 is what makes the board magnetic

{5} To organize your embellishments, you’ll need some containers and these Clear Top Tins from Specialty Bottle are perfect. They are available in several sizes, but these three are likely the ones that will be most useful for your embellie board project. For this particular board, I used the smallest of the sizes pictured here.

{6} Last, you’ll need magnets. You’ll need rather strong magnets since they will need to work through the top sheet of decorative aluminum. These Flexible Magnets are available at Michael’s and work perfectly.

{1} Use your metal snips to cut the decorative sheet. If you would rather not purchase the snips, many of the employees at Home Depot carry a pair and if you ask nicely, they may just let you use them on site to cut through your sheet. I would just suggest that you arrive at the Home Depot with the frame you’ll be using. This way you can be sure that it fits the metal sheet once you’ve cut it.

{2} Trim the decorative aluminum down to the same 12×12 size as the steel sheet.

{3} Place two magnets on the back of each clear top tin. No need for any adhesive. Just put them there and they’ll stay in place. I prefer two magnets rather than one to ensure a better grip and to be sure that the container doesn’t spin around.

{4} Fill up your containers, place the metal sheets in the frame and stick the tins into place!

The nice thing about this project is that one sheet of the decorative aluminum can make two frames. I also like that storage solutions like this force me to limit my hoarding. If I only have nine of eighteen tins to fill, then that’s what I can keep. I can live without the rest, and I’ll be much happier with the decrease in clutter. After all, I’m pretty sure the floor is not intended to be one big shelf, right?!

How do you organize your embellishments?