Initial Magnets

When we bought this house, it came with white appliances. While they worked fine, they really don't do anything for my kitchen. So, we're slowly replacing them with stainless steel. When Black Friday rolled around this year, we discovered that Lowe's had a smoking deal on our "dream" fridge - a stainless steel beauty with french doors and a water and ice dispenser in door. *Swoon* (yes, I am that easily excited!). So, my dear, brave husband made his first foray in the world of Black Friday to purchase our new refrigerator. (I was busy braving the likes of Wal-Mart, Kohl's and Target!).

It's so pretty that I didn't want it to get junked up with the endless magnets advertising real estate agents, fast food joints and fix-it guys that seem to multiply like rabbits and whose sole purpose is holding the glorious artwork the girls make on the front of the fridge. My solution? New fridge, new rule: only cute magnets can be placed on the front of my fridge.


Problem is, this new rule required me to actually make the cute magnets! I limited it to two per girl and made them in their initials, so there will be no squabbling over who has more magnets. I'm hoping the limit of two will keep the front of the fridge cute and organized. That's the plan, anyway. I'll let you know how it goes.

I headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up super cute chipboard letters (at a whopping $0.99 each!) and some cute scrapbook paper that matches my decor. The spray paint came from Lowe's, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend this type. I was unimpressed with the quality. The self adhesive magnet sheets came from Wal-Mart. I also used my Modge Podge.

The first thing I did was spray paint the chipboard. You won't really see the front because the paper will cover it, but I wanted to make sure the sides looked nice.

Once the spray paint had dried, I took them inside and put them right side down on the back of my paper. I used a pencil to trace around the letter.

Then, I cut them out and used Modge Podge to stick them to the front of the letter. I also applied Modge Podge to the front to seal them.

I did the same thing with the magnet sheets. I traced the shape on the self-adhesive magnet sheet and cut it out. Then, I peeled off the paper backing and placed the magnet on the back of the letter.

Now, I have cute magnets to display fun artwork on the front of my fridge!

Taylor's (new) Favorite Blanket

Taylor had this fleece blanket that she called her "favorite blanket". It wasn't anything special, just this fleece square that looked off white, but if you looked closely, it was really a pale blue checked print. It held no special meaning - she wasn't wrapped up in it as a baby, it wasn't a gift from anyone (it was actually left behind at our 1st house and we never figured out who had left it), it was just a fleece blanket that became quite loved.

Until, that is, our trip to The Polar Express this year. Favorite blanket was packed for the overnight trip and made it into the car. I think it may have even made it into the hotel. Where it is now, I have no idea. I don't know if it got left behind in the hotel room (even though I checked the room before we checked out and calls to housekeeping turned up nothing), or if it fell out of the car during one of our pit stops, or if Taylor took it with her into a restaurant and it got left behind. At any rate, favorite blanket didn't make it home from that trip.

To ease the sting a little, I took Taylor to the quilt store with the promise that she could pick out the fabric she liked and I'd make her a new favorite blanket. She's loving the purple right now, so that's what she went with. I got the idea for adding the initial from a friend who also makes quilts, and I think it's adorable! I used my Cricut machine to cut out a heart and the letter "T" that I used for templates. The front is cotton quilt fabric, the letter "T" and the backing is made our of Minky fabric. It didn't take me more than 2 hours, and now she's got a new blanket to love!