Arts and Crafts and Coffee

Yesterday I was struck with a sincere and severe urge to be crafty.

Trouble is, though I have high aspirations for my craftiness, I'm not all that proficient in many crafting areas. I don't know how to knit, but I wish I did. I don't know how to crochet, but I wish I did. I've never scrap-booked, but I'd like to try. You get the idea—A lot of would if I could.

So as I was thinking about what in the world I could do to sooth my crafting itch, my eyes fell upon my massive stack of Starbucks cards. If you haven't noticed, I'm a Starbucks fanatic of sorts. So I keep every Starbucks card I get, and I have a bunch. I supposed you could say I'm collecting them, but I can't rightly say I know what I'm doing with my collection so much as letting them sit quietly in a chronological stack behind my iPod speakers dock to be occasionally thumbed through.

And this stack isn't even ALL of them.

Some I want to keep in pristine condition. You know, just in case? But others—some duplicates, and some that I just love so much I know I'll never want to sell/get rid of/whatever—I'm not so stuck on keeping perfect for some sort of collection.

And so that got me thinking, what could I do with these cards that would really let me enjoy them, show them off?

Epiphany!

Magnets!

The last time my Mom came to visit me, she commented on how I don't have very many. (At my house, our fridge is affectionally littered with them, of all shapes and sizes.) And this was the perfect solution for both my crafting urge and my Starbucks cards dilemma.

This is the ultimate fun, cheap, and easy way to make magnets if you're like me and have a ton of Starbucks cards lying around. Though obviously you don't have to use Starbucks cards to make magnets. But, since I did, and since I had such a fun time doing it, I'm going to tell you exactly how I did it! You know, just in case reading this inspires you to embrace your crafty side in a similar manner.

First, I had to make a quick trip to Michael's. Any craft supply store will do, though, I'd imagine! As long as they sell some form of magnet. I hadn't realized I'd have so many options, but what I ended up leaving with was just a basic peel-and-stick rectangle of magnets. They came in one piece, but broke off easily into strips, which I then cut to fit the card.

I figured these would be pretty much impossible to mess up (I was right), but I still started off with a card I had multiples of. Nevertheless, it's one of my favorites. I cut one of the magnet strips in half, peeled the backing off, and stuck it on the back of the card.

Worked like a charm.

It's a first edition of sorts. ;)

I was so pleased with the result that I instantly made more. Since I was still in the process of figuring out the best way to put magnets on the back, I tried it a couple of different ways. For some, I used two smaller strips, vertical on each side of the card. For others, one long strip in the middle. For one, I just used a little strip. Aesthetically, it doesn't make much of a difference either way since this all goes on the back. The only difference is how much the magnet can hold. Menus, photos, shopping lists, etc. I think my favorite way is the two vertical strips.

All in all, I ended up making seven different Starbucks card magnets. I love them! They really brighten up my fridge—as you can see, it's black—and I'm excited that I've finally found a use for some of my favorite Starbucks cards.

Plus, if you run out of room on your own fridge, they would make great gifts! And I'm already planning on switching mine out. Some of them, anyway. I have several Christmas themed Starbucks cards—Guess when those are going up! They can be seasonal!

Anyway, these are the results of my creative urges (and my Starbucks mania). They were a ton of fun, and so easy I can't even explain it. And, would you believe it, while I was sifting through cards to use, I found an old favorite of mine from 2006—summer, I believe—that still had a balance on it! $1.49! Score!

This is the infamous card with a nearly six year old balance!