Salt Dough Magnet Crafts
Make your fridge more "attractive" with these salty magnets.
Submitted by
Sonam Adinolf
Sonam Adinolf
Got one magnet holding up five of your kid's drawings on the fridge? Lessen the burden with these salt dough magnet crafts. Not only will your fridge be decked out in your kid's drawings, she'll have made the magnets, too. It's like creativity gone wild!
- Salt:1 cup
- Flour:2 cups
- Water:1 cup
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cup
- Rolling pin:An actual rolling pin if you have one, or just grab a bottle of wine or olive oil to sub as a makeshift one. (Take the label off.)
- Cookie cutters:Optional, if you want a specifically shaped magnet.
- Food coloring:Optional, if you want to dye the dough before you bake it.
- Magnet buttons:One per piece
- Hot-glue gun and glue sticks:Kids and hot glue don't mix, so make sure you do all the gluing!
- Paint and paintbrushes
- Acrylic spray sealer:
- Wax paper
- Baking sheet
- Embellishments:Like seed beads, tiny ribbon bows, glitter, googly eyes, buttons, etc.
- Toothpick
Have your kid decide what shape magnet she'd like to make. A flower, moon, ladybug, car? She can also make holiday-themed magnets like a pumpkin, a Christmas tree, a Star of David or a heart. (Yay! Something to do with that set of 100 cookie cutters you got for your shower!)
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Have your child help you mix the salt and flour together in a mixing bowl and gradually add the water.
Have your kid knead the dough until it's smooth. This will take about 10 minutes. (If your kid wants to make colored magnets, now is the time to knead in a few drops of food coloring.) This is a great way to work out pent-up aggression—for you and your child.
Lay down a sheet of wax paper and have her roll the dough to about a quarter of an inch thick. Make sure she doesn't make it too thin, or her magnet will be flimsy and breakable. (If you have a flat baking sheet, she can roll and decorate the dough right on the sheet.)
Then have her mold the dough into her desired shape or use a cookie cutter and cut the shape out.
Have her add any intricate details by carving into the dough with a toothpick.
Place the finished shapes onto a baking sheet and toss them in the oven.
Let bake for about two hours. (Thicker pieces will need to bake longer.)
Remove and let cool before decorating. Smooth any rough edges with a nail file.- Then have your kid paint the magnets with the acrylic paint and add any embellishments. You or your partner can help glue them on with a hot-glue gun.
- When everything is dry, go outside (without your kids) and coat the magnets with an acrylic spray to seal it and make it last.
- Hot-glue a magnet button to the back and pop the magnet on the fridge. Now, isn't that nicer than that hideous magnet your Realtor gave you?
- Keep any dough you aren't working with covered. It can dry out really quickly and become impossible to work with.
- To make holiday ornaments instead of magnets, just toss the magnet, poke a hole in the top with a straw (before it's baked) and hang it with a piece of ribbon.
- These crafts make great gifts for friends and family.
Submit!
