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DIY Heart Magnets Are Adorable and Easy to Make — Perfect For Valentine's Day!

Feb 10 2017 - 7:00am

My November wedding [1] was all about the love, and we really took that theme to heart when it came to the decor. We had heart balloons, pillows, favor tags, and more incorporated into the big day, and whatever I couldn't find I made. So for our table seating assignments, I made little red heart magnets that would not only display the table assignments on a magnetic board, but the guests could also take them as favors. But you don't have to be a bride-to-be to try out this DIY [2] project; this setup would also be super cute for a Valentine's Day [3] party. See how to make it now!

Inspiration

I first got the idea for the photo place cards from this Lake Tahoe wedding [7], but I wanted to use heart magnets instead of photo magnets and couldn't find inexpensive ones anywhere.

The Photos

For the photo cards I found the most embarrassing, old, or funny photos I could of all my guests (couples if they were paired up) on Facebook. Then I created a private Instagram account to put them all in and ordered Miniprints from Printstagram [8]. It can take a while for these to come in, so allow yourself a few weeks! I hand-wrote each guest's name on their card but didn't fill in the table assignments until a few days before the wedding.

Supplies

For the magnets, you'll need the following:

Painting the Hearts

Scatter the wooden hearts on a large piece of cardboard (or newspaper) in a well-ventilated room or outside, and spray them with several coats of the spray paint. You can paint both sides if you want, but it's not really necessary, just be sure to get the sides and be careful about flipping them over with the force of the spray paint.

Unexpected Art

After a few minutes of air-drying, I moved the hearts with a toothpick to a new spot to finish drying, just to make sure they didn't get stuck to the cardboard. The hearts left a cool pattern on the cardboard that transformed the trash to artwork!

The Magnets

Once the painted wooden hearts have dried, use the glue gun to affix a magnet to the backside of each heart. A little goes a long way, so don't use too much or it will be visible from the sides. Since the magnets are incredibly tiny, press a stack of them onto the glue for a minute, then take the stack away, leaving just the glued one in place. This keeps your fingers from getting burned!

Finished Product

This is what the final setup looks like! We just leaned the magnetic board against the wall and attached each place card to the board with a heart magnet. We also had a sign letting people know they could take home their card and their magnet — and the guests loved them!


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https://www.popsugar.com/love/DIY-Heart-Magnets-21589412