Make Your Own Fluid Art Magnets

Hey friends! Popping in today to share a quick craft with you!

A few weeks back, I tried my hand at ‘Fluid Art’. If you haven’t already heard of it, fluid art is the art of acrylic paint pouring. You pour different colors of thinned out acrylic paint onto a canvas and tilt it around to make designs. There are different pouring techniques you can use to get different effects, along with different mediums that you can add to your paint in order to enhance your design.

So in the spirit of fluid art making, I made some fluid art magnets!

To make your own, you will need:

• Wooden buttons, or any small round base that is flat
• Acrylic craft paint in various colors
• Enough water to thin your paint
• Plastic Cups – you’ll need one for each color you use
• ETI Emvirotex Lite (or a Polycrylic Spray)
• Magnets
• Glue Gun

Pour a quarter sized amount of paint into your cup, using a separate cup for each color. Adding a small amount of water at a time, thin your paint enough that it easily pours out of the cup, but still has a thicker consistency. You don’t want it to be too watery.

Once your paint has the right consistency, prop your buttons up so that the paint can drip off of it. I put some screws in a scrap of wood and put the buttons on the screws to prop them up. Pour each color onto your buttons one at a time. You can alternate pouring your colors on top of each other, or next to each other. Let the excess paint drip off and let dry overnight. I remember one of my friends used mica powders to make a glossy spray paint and used it in her painting projects. She sent me images of her acrylic pouring paintings and resin art. I must say, the shimmer created from mica powders was quite intriguing. I might also try using mica powder and see what kind of magic it creates.

When your paint has completely dried, mix up your ETI Envirotex Lite as per the instructions. I’ll say it every time I use it, follow the instructions to a T in order to prevent heartache! Keeping your buttons propped up, pour your resin onto the buttons and if you need to, use a popsicle stick to spread it around to the edges. After a few minutes, you can take a BBQ lighter to the resin and pop any bubbles that may have surfaced. As the resin dries, you can use a paintbrush to carefully wipe the excess resin drops. Let the resin dry and cure for a full 72 hours. If you don’t have resin, you can use a polycrylic spray to seal them.

Phew, this is taking some time isn’t it?! No worries, we’re almost done! I used an exacto knife to cut off any drips from underneath that I wasn’t able to brush off. Using the glue gun, glue your magnets onto the back and you’re done!

They are super cute and worth all the dry time wait!

I love the way the colors mix together. Each magnet has its own pattern & they are totally unique!

Have you crafted anything fun lately?