Funky Clothespin Magnets

I love to browse "high-end" gifty-type stores and see what I can duplicate for way less than they're charging.  A few months ago while browsing such a shop with friends I saw these adorable magnet clips being sold for a ridiculous price and thought, "I can do that!".

First I gathered pretty papers (This is a GREAT way to use up small pieces of scrapbooking paper!) which would help me determine what color I was going to spray paint the clips.  I decided black was pretty safe to use with anything although I did use silver on some clips that had silver accents in the paper.  I put the clips in a cardboard box and sprayed several times, rotating, turning, etc. until all surfaces were covered.

I cut the papers slightly longer than the length of the clothespin so I could wrap the ends inside of the clip and applied with Mod Podge.  Once dry I coated each with a few layers of Mod Podge to seal and give a nice, finished look.  Finally, I added gems, pearls or other accents and a magnet to the back.  (Hint:  Get the teeny, tiny, super strong mini magnets for a very reasonable price on Ebay.  Much better than the thick, black ones you'll find in most craft stores.)

Since I was giving these as gifts, I created little cards using the same papers and clipped 5 clothespin magnets to each card.  Great to have little gifts like this on hand to give as hostess gifts when invited to a friend's house for dinner, etc.!