DIY: Magnetic Makeup Board

That's right, The magnetic makeup board that is sweeping the nation is here on

Jenny Can't Sleep!!

I mean, it was bound to happen sooner or later, so why not sooner?
BUT I will give you some money saving tips and some things to look out for, that those other blogs don't mention when they just say 'oh ya its just a metal sheet in a frame'.
LIES I tell you!!!
.......OK I'll admit, it is pretty damn easy.

But since my little sister is only 15 and has a life outside of the internet, she thought it was the coolest thing I've ever come up with.

Until I told her I didn't think of it first......
Whatever.
I'm still cool.




OK, you will need:

- A frame that you like the shape, size and detail of. Color, what it's made of and whether or not it has glass doesn't matter. Preferably with some sort of molding around the edges or corners if you want to get the faux vintage-y look we sort of attempted.
- Paint, cheap tempera paint will work fine. Two paints, the same color but one a reeeeaally dark shade and then a lighter shade
or you can just have one dark one and a white and mix them for your lighter shade.
- paint brushes, you'll want to use the cheap kind since this doesn't have to be a masterpiece.
- a rag you don't mind getting paint on(my sister regretted giving me an old shirt of hers once I had already covered it in paint)
- something to mix paint in
- newspaper to lay everything out on
- sand paper
- an old book you don't mind ripping up, or just the pages of a book. you want them to be yellowing. You can find crappy books at any goodwill or thrift store. They don't have to actually be old, just yellowish looking.
- Spray adhesive, I bought some for about $5 dollars at Home Depot, and I wasn't too happy about it but it wasn't that big of a deal since that just means I'll have to find more projects that need it so it doesn't go to waste.
       also, my mom paid for it.

If you don't want to/can't get spray adhesive I don't know what other kind of paint to recommend besides a simple paper glue. Just don't blame me if your paper wrinkles. I had this problem with another project so I never made a tutorial on it, so I guess I'm happy about the adhesive.
- And then you will need a sheet of metal. you obviously want something that fits into the frame you have, so TAKE THE FRAME WITH YOU!


When I went to Home Depot, 2 employees in a row decided to tell me that what I was asking for didn't exist.
I mean, seriously?
First of all I know it does, and second of all even if it didn't you should lie to me! Give me a gillion other possibilities of things to use but don't tell me no!
Anyways, we found a few different types of metal for all different prices, all not what I was willing to pay for.
Luckily the gentlemen helping me took me to a different aisle where they had the smaller sheets of metal which were a much better size and only 98 cents each.
That's right, less than a dollar.
He must've liked me.
Keep in mind our frame was only about 8x10 so you may have to pay $5 for yours, which is still a good deal.
BUT!!!! one idea I had for a larger frame: glue the cheep sheets together!
You can glue them to a piece of cardboard and use as many as you need.
bam, saved you 5 bucks.
(I'll look into a DIY for this in the future if anyone's interested)

-Magnets!!! I would recommend buying a roll of them. It comes in one long strip all rolled up in the package and runs about $3. It was definitely the best deal.
IMPORTANT: check that the magnets stick to your metal sheet before cutting or purchasing anything! I was told that some metal is...I don't know what it's called, but it doesn't work with magnets! It's imposter metal!
and lastly:

Once you have your metal that is LARGER than your frame, you'll need to cut it down. I for one, have no clue if we have tin snips at home so I went over to the aisle and tested some on my metal sheet.
yes, you can ask them to cut it for you but my bad-news- crew wasn't having any of that.
"oh sorry, we don't cut metal in the store"
yeah? well, I'm not leaving till it's cut, and I'm NOT paying $15 for tin snips I'll never use.
Problem solved.


OK onto some actual instruction!!
First! SAND YOUR FRAME!! The only way you'll get away with skipping this step is if the frame is that rough wood that is still that raw texture. If there is any smoothness or shine on your frame pleeeaassee don't paint without sanding.
My sister and I made this mistake and didn't realize our fail until 3 coats later.
Your paint will peel clean off.

So, sand and then paint a light coat of your LIGHTER color first. (the color you chose mixed with white) I usually don't use thick coats on wood, just to make sure it all soaks in. 

Once it dries, paint one more coat of the lighter color.

(Doesn't this picture look upside down? It bothers me, but it's even worse the other direction)

Then once that is all FULLY dry your going to take your darker color and do one corner at a time. You're going to paint it on and then while it's still wet, take your rag and PRESS AND LIFT it off. No rubbing!

With cheap paint there's a big chance you'll just rub off all the layers and have to start over.

You want to get the darker color in all the corners and creases and just press down enough to lift off the dark paint and reveal the lighter color on the raised areas.

Don't worry about this being perfect, you can always redo any layers as many times as you want until you like it.

It should look somewhat like this

If you feel like you covered up too much of the lighter color, remember you can always dry brush it back on in places you need to. If you don't know how to do this it's very simple, just put some paint on your brush and then wipe it off on the newspaper before painting.

Next you're going to get out your metal sheet.

Now hear me out, I've seen many magnetic makeup boards and they all have fabric on them but I found out that with the magnet strips I bought, the magnets wouldn't even stay on. 

So we tried painting the metal. 

That looked like crap.

So this is where the adhesive spray and book pages come in:

Spray a thin layer and then set down one page, spray some more, set down a page, spray, set, spray, set. You get it.

I'm so glad the fabric method didn't work because I LOVE the look this has. It goes perfect with the modern antique-ish vibe she wanted.

Then just fold the pages over and glue the ends to the back, or cut them off (I folded them over so there was a less chance of them ripping or peeling off)

As you can see a little corner didn't want to stay down but don't worry, we sprayed and set some more.

Then you cut strips of the magnet and stick them to your makeup. The magnet roll should have an adhesive back but if not, a hot glue gun or your brand new adhesive spray!!

And ta-DA!

If your makeup runs out just peel off the magnet and attach to your new makeup.