Mother’s Day is almost here and what better way to make your Mom or Grandmother happy then to make her something that she can keep up all year long. If your house is anything like ours, the fridge is loaded up with kids artwork. Well, we thought we would take it one step further and make little, mini-magnet art pieces to hold up the work – and whatever else you want to keep handy on the fridge.

We started by looking in our pantry, there we found a box from some cookies that was headed for the recycling bin. I cut the large panels out to two rectangles for the kids to create their artwork. Ethan and Nora chose to paint, but you could use markers or crayons as well. I had them fill up the whole area of cardboard that way when you cut them out, you won’t have to worry about missing any of the design.

If you’re using paint like we did I recommend sealing it with Modge Podge, we used what I had on hand Sparkle Modge Podge. It’s easy to use, after the paint dries, we squirt out a glob on a paper plate and using a foam brush (any larger paint brush would do) paint the Modge Podge over the artwork. It goes on white (looks like glue) then dries clear, or in our case with glitter sparkles.

After it’s dry you can turn it over and taking a marker to the back, draw your shapes, we did rectangles (easier for little ones to cut) and circles (just trace the rim of a small jar or juice glass). After you have cut your shapes you’re ready to add your magnets. We used hot glue. An adult will need to do this part. Apply a small dot of hot glue to the back of the shape. It’s important not add the glue while the shape is laying face down, hold the shape in your hand instead, then add your magnet. Ta-da! You can stop here and be done or you can add a little paper heart on top like we did.

Adding hearts on top was sort of a happy accident. We learned the hard way while gluing on the magnets while the shapes were laying flat and melted a small blob of paint off the front of a few of our shapes – the solution – we took the left over scraps from our original artwork and cut out tiny hearts. We put them on top with regular glue and in the end they turned out to be charming little magnets!