Christmas DIY Magnets

Hey there! Have I really not posted since early Fall? How have Halloween and Thanksgiving come and gone already? Honestly, my head has been swimming the past couple months, teaching classes at two schools and working at the museum. Some days it felt more like drowning, but more on that in another post.

I wanted to share with you a cute idea I had to display Christmas cards. I used to staple them to ribbons and hang them from a prominent spot like a mantle. Last year in our new house, which doesn't have a mantle, I decided to put the cards up with magnets on the metal door to the garage, which is located in a high-traffic area of our house, between the kitchen and the living room.  I used random magnets I had around such as pizza parlor freebies, vacation souvenirs, and tongue-in-cheek ones left over from my college days (e.g. tiny stuffed Virgina Woolf and Frida Kahlo magnets).

The effect was confused and incohesive, as you can imagine.

This year, I wanted to do the same thing with Christmas cards, but without the randomness. I bought a 30 pack of blank magnets from the local hardware store for about $7.  The ones I got are in the shape of triangles, squares, and circles.  They're just flat black magnets. You can also find blank magnets at craft stores.

I checked out Pinterest for some DIY inspiration.  There are some neat ideas out there, but not exactly what I was looking for.  How could I easily decorate these magnets with some holiday spirit? Then it hit me - duh! I ran to the drawer, pulled out my wrapping supplies and found my mini Christmas bows.  They already have adhesive, so all I had to do was stick them on. No cutting, no measuring, no gluing! Voilà - Jolly bow magnets for displaying Christmas cards.

I'm also considering covering some magnets with gift wrap paper and ribbon, but that might have to wait until after grades are posted.

What do you think about these little DIY Christmas magnets?