Paper Doll Magnets

Did everyone have a fabulous Christmas? Ours was positively splendid! ;) This year it was so incredible seeing everything through my toddler's eyes. Its such a magical experience! I'm not sure little E understood the Santa concept but she did understand we celebrated Jesus Christ's birth and that makes me so happy. :)

Some of E's gifts were homemade this year, which means I was crafting like a crazy person. And you know what that means...a lot of diet coke. ;) Aside from the huge black circles under my eyes and being an inch away from a nervous break down because I had overcommitment myself (like I always do) to 1 million projects (slight exaggeration) I was able to come back to reality and reminded why we truly celebrate Christmas with a little help from my 2 year old. I'm just so thankful for that little girl. She makes sense out of everything I try make complicated in my head. :)


One of the homemade gifts that was a huge hit this year were the paper doll magnets I made E. I saw the idea at Make It and Love It  while I was browsing Pinterest and I knew I just had to make them! I loved that she used a cookie sheet and even made a sweet little cover to keep all the magnet pieces from falling out! Genius! The original tutorial is HERE but I'll show you how I made my version!

 

YOU WILL NEED:

*Cookie sheet- I found mine at Walmart for around $3

*Printable Magnet sheets- they come in a pack of 3 sheets for $5 (which ends up being pretty cost efficient because you can fit a lot of paper dolls/accessories on one sheet) I used this brand:

*A piece of fabric to cover you cookie sheet

*Elastic- I used the 1/8 inch width size I found in little packs at Walmart (can you tell its one of my favorite places?)

*Any embellishments you'd like to decorate your cover

*Free and gorgeous (might I add) paper dolls from The Black Apple. <---This lady is so talented! I'm obsessed with her paintings and everything she creates. Its such a treat she is sharing these beautiful paper dolls for free so I would hurry and download them HERE! ;)

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Step 1: Print out the paper dolls onto your Magnet Sheet Paper. Make sure you choose the high quality option under your print settings. It makes a huge difference! The colors are so much more vibrant! I know, I'm a huge nerd...

Step 2: Cut all your pieces out- this may take a little more time if you are OCD like me.

Step 3: To make your cover, cut out a piece of fabric a little bigger than your cookie sheet. I totally guessed on this (which is big for me because normally I'm a measuring freak).

Step 4: Sew a zig zag stitch around the perimeter to keep from fraying.

Step 5:  To sew the elastic onto the edge of your cover: stretch it by pulling tightly with your hand, and sew right down the center of your elastic all the way around your perimeter. If I could do this part over, I would not use a straight stitch but a zig zag stitch. This would have made it easier to sew.

Step 6: Embellish! You know I love this part of any project! ;) I stitched my daughter's name and added some yo yo flowers so everyone would know it was hers. 

 

She really loves it! She asked late last night if she could play with her dollies. It was so cute! 

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas!

Happy Crafting! :)