How To: Save-the-Date Magnets

These DIY magnets are really simple.  They took some time, but I think they were entirely worth it.

First, figure out the design of your Save-the-Date cards.  As you might remember, It took several tries before we got the perfect one (here, here, here, and here).  I made all of my designs in Microsoft Publisher.  It's really easy to work with.  I used photos from our engagement photo session. 

Before you start designing the card, you need to figure out how big you want the magnet to be.  I chose to go with a 3.5x5 inch size, so I input the size in my Publisher design before getting started.  If you design in a size that you're not going to order, then when you order the prints, the photo will have to stretch or shrink or possibly even get cropped... and that's not a good thing!

Once you have a design you like, order them.  You can order photo prints like I did or you could order postcards from someplace like Vistaprint.  Either way, look for deals!  I got my prints for $0.10 per photo with free shipping from PhotoWorks.  I am on VistaPrint's email list and they constantly send me deals.  I've seen deals for 100 postcards for FREE (plus shipping)!  You can't really beat that!  It's just going to depend on how big you want your magnets to be. 

If you're really on a budget, you can do the 250 free business cards from Vistaprint and buy business card magnets.  I just wanted mine to be bigger because I wanted our photos on them.  It's really up to you!

Anyway, on to what I did with my magnets.  As I said, they were really simple.  However, I wouldn't recommend doing them unless you have a guillotine paper cutter.  I'm sure these would become really tedious if someone did them using regular scissors (your hands would hurt for days!).  And, I don't think that a paper cutter with the sliding blade would be able to cut deep enough into the magnet. 

I have a giant guillotine paper cutter.  Most people wouldn't really have much use for one as large as mine.  I got it when I was doing my pocketfold invitations because I needed something big enough to cut my enormous sheets of paper.  I did a bunch of research and got mine used off of Craigslist for $30.  Super deal!  Of course, I had Philip pick it up for me (I don't willingly go into strangers' homes!).  Again, look for those deals!

Anyway, back to the magnets.  I suggest buying 8.5x11 sheets of adhesive magnets.  I bought mine from Oriental Trading.  They come 12 to a pack for $9.99.  I knew I would be able to get 5 magnets with my 3.5x5 inch size off of one sheet.  I need to have about 70 magnets, so I ordered 2 packs.  They only took a few days to arrive. 

Once they were here, I started my cutting:

I didn't measure anything out.  I lined up the magnet sheet with the ruler on my cutter and just cut, cut, cut!  It didn't really take that long to do the cutting, even though I had 14 sheets to cut.  I was pleased to have all 70 magnets in a nice, neat, little pile:

Then began the sticking.  I peeled the paper backer off of the magnet and lined the photo up with the lines of the magnet. 

Some of the magnets were just a smidge too big, so I had to do a little bit of trimming, but it wasn't a big deal.  It didn't take very long either.  :)

Next up, I put the magnets in the cards I had prepared for the magnets.  If you don't want an actual card, you could probably just mail the magnets by themselves (it would probably also save you in postage!).  I used photo corners to attach the magnets to the top, inside part of the cards.

I think they look fantastic!  I am so pleased with how they turned out.  I ordered envelopes from Amazon and they should be here on Tuesday.  I'm thinking of doing envelope liners for them, but I have to see how everything looks together first.  I'm also thinking about doing envelope seals, but that's not set in stone yet either.  We shall see!