We love advent calendars at our house. We have one on a cookie sheet that the kids use every December to count down the days to Christmas. Well, when I made this silver tray chalkboard last month, I thought…..gosh, I wonder if a magnet sticks to it. Sure enough, it did.
And so, I started working on a new advent calendar for our family a while ago but then Dad went into the hospital and I put it aside until the other day.
I used lots of Maya Road chipboard snowflakes, buttons, stars, hearts ( from angel wing set), crowns, Bingo Markers, houses, scallop microchip pieces, birds and other misc. pieces.
I also used Helmar 450 for my adhesive, silver pipe cleaners, mica flakes and Martha Stewart Microbeads and OA's Very Merry Line line.
I have made many advents over the years and the one thing that I have noticed is it is hard to get the magnet to stay stuck.
If you have ever worked with clay (maybe back in grade school) they taught you that a slick surface will not hold onto a slick surface for long. This is true. Every year when we get out the Halloween or Christmas advent calendar we end up having to re-glue a few magnets back on. It’s not a big deal but my brain has been churning forever trying to come up with a solution. Well, I think I did.
So, you take a bit of muslin or whatever left over thin fabric scraps you have laying around and make a little cover for the magnet. This will give you a textured surface to glue down to a slick surface and then you have the fabric overlap which glues to the back of the chipboard, which holds the magnet on. Does this make sense? Think of it as a permanent bra for your magnet.
This will also help to eliminate the magnet from scratching the painted chalkboard surface or if you are using black magnets, help to prevent scuffs. The fabric is thin enough that there is no problem with the magnet working right through the fabric.
I’m actually quite proud of myself for thinking this up. It took me about 4 years.
I used some BG magnets - they are super strong and work awesome for advent calendars!
Anyway, I just wanted to share with you my Silver Tray Advent Calendar.
I hope you have a blessed Holiday.
Love,
gorgeous tray!
Posted by: stephanie j | December 25, 2010 at 10:12 PM
Very cool, I like it!
Posted by: Kelly | December 26, 2010 at 10:15 AM
That is lovely.........I am feeling VERY inspired.....a great idea for different ways to use the chippie buttons!!
Posted by: Jette | December 26, 2010 at 10:26 AM
I Love it!!
Posted by: Frankie Leal | December 26, 2010 at 09:14 PM
GIRL....you are amazing!
Posted by: Shelley Haganman | December 26, 2010 at 09:55 PM
This is an awesome project, Katie! I really want to try making one of these!!!
Posted by: Jennifer | December 27, 2010 at 07:45 AM