Refrigerator Magnet Crafts - Clothespin Magnet Instructions

Looking for funky refrigerator magnet crafts? These wooden clothespin magnets are easy and inexpensive to make, and a super useful gift too!

I'll show you several different ways to decorate your wooden pegs using scrapbooking paper, decorative napkins, ribbons, and buttons. But you can decorate them any way you want to! Feathers, sparkles, glitter...

Materials

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For this refrigerator magnet craft project, all you need is:

Adhesive magnet sheet or circular magnets
wood clothespins
pretty paper or decorative napkins
scissors
PVA white glue OR decoupage glue
Optional: decoupage varnish
Optional: other embellishments (buttons, sequins, rhinestones...)

Vintage Clothespin Magnet Design

Cut out a strip of paper or card the same width and length as your clothepin.

NOTE: I find that pegs tend to be the same width but varying lengths, so it is can be easier to cut out strips that are slightly longer than the pegs which you can trim at a later stage. It is quite hard to trim the paper along the length of the peg because the hinge gets in the way, so make sure you get the width measurement right.

Coat the surface of the wooden peg with glue. I like to use white PVA craft glue.

Place your strip of paper onto the clothespin and position appropriately.

Once your glue has dried, use a craft blade to trim any excess paper from each end.

If you like, you can add several more coats of white glue to the surface of your paper to provide a light varnish layer. Allow to dry completely before adding extra coats of glue.

Attach an adhesive magnetic strip (cut to size) to the back of the clothespin.

If you're using circular magnets, make sure you use a strong glue to attach them to the pegs. This is REALLY IMPORTANT as you don't want them to get loose and be ingested by a pet or small child if they fall onto the ground. I recommend a using 5 minute epoxy, which you can get at craft or hardware stores and comes in an easy-dispense double-syringe packet. Here's what the magnets look like glued on the back of the peg:

refrigerator magnet crafts neodymium back photo

And here is the finished set of homemade vintage style refrigerator magnets. I've mounted them on a simple piece of card, distressing the edges with brown ink and using a strip of matching paper. Took just a few moments to make, and looks so pretty!

Refrigerator Magnet Crafts: Decorative Napkin Clothespin Magnet

Cut out a section of napkin slightly wider and longer than your wooden clothespin.

Separate off the backing layers of the napkin, so you are left with the top-most layer. It will be very thin, but this is okay!

Coat your wooden peg with PVA white glue diluted in water (about 50:50), or alternatively use a layer of decoupage glue.

Gently lower the piece of napkin over the peg surface.

Using a paint brush dipped in your glue of choice, gently flatten out the napkin onto the surface of the peg. There will be some wrinkles, but I think this adds to the charm! You can smooth out most of them using the paint brush.

Once the clothespin is dry, use sand paper or a nail file to remove any excess napkin from the peg. I like to file away from the top surface of the peg to give a nice clean edge.

Now you can add more layers of glue, or a few layers of decoupage varnish to your clothespin. This will seal the napkin onto the peg and makes it all shiny and pretty! Remember to allow the glue to completely dry before adding another layer!

Once you're happy with your decorated clothespin, add a refrigerator magnet strip to the back of the peg (as illustrated under the instructions for the vintage clothespin magnet above).

And here is the finished set of napkin-decorated clothespins...

Other Refrigerator Magnet Craft Ideas

Here are a few other clothespin magnets I decorated. The first is using a gorgeous oriental-style paper.

This next set used some cute polka-dot ribbons that were about the same width as the clothespin. I just glued them on, and tucked the ends under the top and bottom ends of the clothespin.