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This is my second month as a co-host for the “Inspire My Creativity” link party. You guys! I have had so much fun with this month’s theme of buttons! As soon as I learned what our theme would be for February, I knew I wanted to make something interactive. I thought about button jewelry, quiet book activities, and other games you can play with buttons. When I went to the craft store, though, and found these buttons, all other ideas disappeared, and I knew I wanted to make a magnet travel game.
Aren’t they cute!?! I think the fish are my favorite. They also had some super cute birds that I thought about getting, but you have to draw the line somewhere, right? With buttons in hand, I just had a few more supplies to gather. For this project, I used a tin box, some vinyl and small craft magnets to glue to the back of the buttons. Once I had everything ready, it was time to create!
One of the things I really like about this project is that the design is really quite simple. Other than the letters for the title, everything is made up of mostly basic shapes. I seriously considered just drawing it all out freehand and cutting the vinyl with my own two hands and a pair of scissors. Totally old school, right? In the end, though, I went with my very dear friend, Cricut. I created my background pieces using Cricut Design Space. The thing I love about Design Space is the ability it gives you to get rid of overlapping sections. Using the “slice” feature, you can create a bunch of different elements that all fit together like a puzzle. The OCD side of my personality thinks that’s pretty great. Here’s what was left after all the cutting was done:
. . . And we’re in the home stretch! Thanks to the precise cutting of my Cricut, everything fit together beautifully. Once everything was cut out, the longest part was just waiting for the glue on the magnets to dry. My two girls were super excited to play with it, and I was super excited to LISTEN to them play with it. They say the funniest things when they are playing pretend. Have you ever taken the time to stop and listen to kids play? It’s pretty entertaining. If you haven’t done this, I highly recommend it! The innocence of childhood is something we should all invite into our lives more often.
And there you have it . . . a relatively quick project that will entertain a child for hours. I can see this getting a lot of use in the car! Want to make one yourself? Here are a few links to the supplies I used:
This project was created for February 2019’s “Inspire My Creativity” link party. This month’s theme? Buttons! I’m lucky enough to co-host this link party with some pretty amazing ladies – make sure you check out their blogs (links below) for more fun projects!
This is such a cute project! I think I’m going to make some for my nephew! Fun!!!
This is an awesome use of buttons. My kids have the reusable stickers for scenes but eventually they don’t stick but magnets always will. Great for traveling & those buttons are the cutest!
This is such a clever idea! I love that they can personalized to each child’s interests. SO cute!!!