Magnet Board

I saw some magnet boards in the Ballard designs catalog that were crazy expensive.  They were much larger than I wanted and I refused to spend that kind of money on them. So I figured I could do it myself  (with a little help from the hubs) for a lot less.

Here is what you need:  A sheet of metal (you can find them at Home Depot or Lowes in the building supply section), fabric, glue gun and glue sticks, grommets (got mine in the sewing section at WalMart), a small piece of felt or one piece of cardstock, and some kind of appropriate glue (I like E6000 or you can use fabric glue if you use the felt).  I also have a wooden paint stirrer to save myself from some burns from the glue - a ruler would work, too. 

I bought a larger piece of metal for about $7 and had my husband cut it in 2 equal sized pieces and then he drilled two holes in each half.  You will need to buy your grommets first and see what size they are before you drill the holes.  The holes and the grommets need to be the same size. 



Cut each side of your fabric about an inch or more longer than the sheet of metal. 


 Working on the back side of the magnet board, use your glue gun and place a line of glue down one side of the sheet metal.  Working very quickly, press the flap of fabric down.  This is where I use a paint stirrer to press down the fabric into the hot glue.  Then go to the opposite side of the board and do the same thing, pulling the fabric tight so there isn't excess.  At this point, I fold all of the corners like I have in the picture below. 


Use the glue gun to glue the fabric to itself in the corners.


Glue the other two sides down, pulling the fabric taut on the last side.  At this point  you will need to take something to cut a hole in the fabric where the grommets will go.  I used a seam ripper and gently cut holes in the fabric.  Then, following the directions in the package, I inserted the two grommets.

Make sure to use a surface that is sturdy when hammering the grommets in place or you will end up with a nice gouge or two on your surface.  I usually do it on a heavy cutting board on top of my countertops or craft table.  Once the two grommets were in place, I placed the piece of felt on the back and glued it down with fabric glue.  I would much rather have used E6000, but I can't find it anywhere in my house (the hubs must have it in his workshop).  If you never have used it, it is messy, but it will work on almost anything and it dries clear.  Worth every penny, even with the mess.  You definitely will need something like E6000 if you use cardstock instead of felt.  I prefer felt because it is easy to cut and if you plan it out correctly, you might not even need to cut it at all.

All that is left to do is to thread a coordinating ribbon through the grommets and tie a bow.  That's it.

BOTTOM LINE:

1/2 Sheet of Metal                   $3.50

Felt                                             .29

Ribbon  (Roll)                            1.96

Grommets (Box)                        2.96

TOTAL                                   $8.71

The fabric was a scrap left over from another project and I had the glue, glue gun and fabric glue on hand.  At most, a 1/2 yard of fabric would be needed and that would have been enough to make two.

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