The SITUATION
I was cleaning through my bookshelves the other day, and realized I’ve collected a LOT of bookish items throughout the years–bookmarks, mugs, and pins. Which I absolutely adore! I seem to pick up those cute button pins everywhere I go: the bookstore, bookcons, swag packs, etc.
However, if you know me, then you know that I aim to own things that are both pleasing to look at (because #aesthetics) and serve a function (blame my inner engineer), I decided those lovely pins could be put to better use than just sitting on my shelves (and no, not for the purpose they were originally intended; not sure why, but I’ve never been the type of person to really decorate my backpack/jacket with pins).
the solution
M A G N E T S. That’s the future for these pins, I decided. Magnets were functional. And these magnets would also put a smile on my face. The process was simple. All I needed was a pair of wire cutters, pliers, hot glue, and strong magnets (I had a couple blank magnets on my fridge which I decided to repurpose; disk magnets that can be bought on Amazon or any craft store would also do the trick), and proceeded to do the following:
- Cut off the pointy end of the pin with the wire cutters
- Used the pliers to smoosh down the excess wiring
- Apply a generous dab of hot glue in the middle of the pin’s back
- Stick the magnet to the glue
- Firmly hold in place for 10-15 seconds
- Let dry
- Enjoy your pin-turned-magnet
the results
Honestly, I was very happy with the results! In less than 15 minutes, I had a handful of new magnets adorning my fridge. Choosing a strong backing magnet was definitely the right move to make, too, as these pin-magnets were strong enough to stick several sheets of paper with no problem.
Happy pinning, folks! (or magneting?)
T A Chan 