Make a Clay Magnet

Magnets are a fun way to spice up your fridge or whiteboard. Why not make your own out of clay? You can let your creativity flourish with this fun and simple art project. Just model your clay into the shape you want, bake it, paint it, and add a magnet. This is a great project for kids and adults alike. Keep your magnets for yourself, or give them as handmade gifts.

Steps

Modeling Your Clay

1. Lay wax paper on your work surface and wash your hands. Wax paper will protect your table or counter from clay residue. It will also protect your clay from any debris on your work surface. Washing and drying your hands will prevent you from leaving streaks of dirt on your artwork.
2. Squish a chunk of modeling clay in your hands until it’s soft. Modeling clay will come out of the package stiff, especially if it has been sitting in a cool storage place. You’ll need to soften it with the motion and warmth of your hands before you can mold it into the shape you want.
   
   
   • You can use a polymer clay, which needs to be baked in the oven, or an air-dry clay.
   • Use colored clay for a colorful magnet, or choose plain clay and paint it later.
3. Combine different colors of clay for a swirled look. To swirl multiple colors of clay together, stack chunks of different colored clay next to each other, and twist them into a rope between your hands. Coil the rope until it makes a rolled disk.
   
   
4. Roll the clay into a small sphere and flatten it onto the wax paper. Whether you’ve just got a chunk of one color, or have swirled multiple colors together, you should now roll the clay into a sphere between the palms of your hands. Press the sphere onto the newspaper in a pancake.
   
   
   • If you want the clay to be a smooth, even thickness, roll it gently with a rolling pin until it is about ¼ inch thick (.63 cm).
5. Cut the clay with a cookie cutter, if you want. Press the cookie onto the clay, and remove the scrap clay from around your shape. You can then squish up the scrap clay, roll it out, and cut it with a cookie cutter again, just like making cookies.
   
   
   • Use the mouth of a glass to cut perfect circles, or a shot glass to cut tiny circles. Just place the glass upside-down on the clay and press it down until it cuts through the clay.
6. Mold your clay into your favorite shape or animal. If you don’t have a cookie cutter in your favorite shape, use your hands to mold the clay. Try a heart, a star, a butterfly, an owl or whatever strikes your imagination. Just make sure the shape is pretty flat. If it’s too bulky, the magnet won’t be strong enough to stick it to the fridge.
   
   
7. Slice your clay into rectangles to make fridge poetry. If you want, you can make your own fridge poetry, with words you and your friends can rearrange into silly or pretty sentences. Roll your clay with a rolling pin until it is ¼ inch thick (.63 cm), and then slice it into rectangles.
   
   
   • You can stamp the rectangles with letter stamps to imprint words into them. This looks really cool, but is quite time-consuming.
   • For a quicker option, just bake the rectangles, and paint words onto them later.

Baking Your Clay

1. Preheat your oven to the temperature you’ll need to bake your clay. Most modeling clay requires an oven temperature of 275 – 300 °F (135 – 149 °C). Check the package of clay to determine what temperature it needs. Often it is a set amount of time for the thickness. Double check the packaging to be sure.
2. Arrange the clay shapes on a baking sheet, spaced evenly. Make sure none of the clay shapes are touching each other or sitting on top of each other. This will make sure they bake well.
3. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the oven. This will make sure the clay is baked evenly from the top and the bottom. Remember to use hot mitts if you have to pull out the oven rack to place the baking sheet on top.
4. Bake the clay according to the manufacturer's directions. Typically this will be at 275°F (135°C) for 15 minutes. Some modeling clay doesn’t even need to be baked, it just needs to dry. In that case, let your clay sit on the wax paper for however long is specified on the clay package.
   • If you’re at a high altitude, above 3,500 feet (1066 m), you’ll need to bake your clay at a higher temperature and for more time. Add 5 degrees to the recommended temperature and 10 extra minutes.
5. Let the clay cool and harden for about 20 minutes before you decorate it. Depending on how thick you made your clay shape, it may take a little less or more time than 20 minutes. Leave the clay shape on a flat surface while it cools, because while it’s still warm, it can bend and break.

Decorating and Magnetizing

1. Paint your clay shape with acrylic paint. If you want to add extra decorations to your clay shape, use a small paintbrush and some acrylic paint. Try curlicues, geometric designs, flowers, or whatever pops into your imagination!
   
   
   • If your magnets are circles, consider painting them with smiley faces and different facial expressions. Kids can use the different magnets to express their mood on a particular day.
   • Or, if your clay is in rectangles, paint words on them, so people can rearrange the words into fridge poetry.
   • For a unified look, consider decorating all your magnets with the same color paint.
2. Let the paint dry for 30 minutes. Most acrylic craft paints take about 30 minutes to dry, but check the paint tube to make sure. If you’re living somewhere with a really humid climate, it might take longer than usually to dry.
   • You can speed up paint drying by placing your shapes in front of a fan, on low.
3. Attach a magnet to the back of your shape. You can buy adhesive magnets, where all you need to do is peel off the magnet's cover and stick the magnet onto your clay shape. Or, you can buy regular magnets, and use hot glue to attach them to your shape.
   
   
   • If you’re a kid, get help from an adult with the hot glue, because it can burn your fingers.
4. Display your new magnet on your fridge. Your magnet is complete! Give it a place of honor on the fridge or anywhere else magnetic. Clay magnets also make great gifts to give to teachers, because teachers can put magnets on their whiteboards.

Tips

• Make sure to glue the magnet onto the side of your clay shape that you like the least! This side will be invisible once it’s stuck to the fridge or wherever else you want to put it.

Warnings

• Don’t use a hot glue gun without adult help.
• Don’t use hot glue near flammable objects.

Things You'll Need

• Modeling clay
• Hot glue
• Flat magnets
• Cookie cutter (optional)
• Acrylic paint (optional)
• Small paintbrush (optional)

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References

See also

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