Friday, December 18, 2009

Tutorial: Personalized Tacks


I decided I wanted to make tacks for my coworkers for Christmas. They look soooo cute displayed on a piece of leftover bulletin board cork cut to fit inside an Altoid's tin.



The red border of the front of the tin is ready-made for holiday embellishment!

Anyone who's ever made these flattened glass fridge magnets or tacks knows how incredibly simple it is. The hardest part for me was finding nice clear flat marbles -- I used to get them from the craft store or even the dollar store, but lately all I've found there are opalescent or riddled with pock marks.

I finally found some nice ones at a local floral supply store.


My 1/2" circle punch is sure handy for punching out the photos (you can cut out with scissors but it sure does take a lot longer!)



Here you see the different stages. On the left, just a plain, flat glass marble.

Next step: add a small drop of Diamond Glaze (what a wonderful adhesive!).

Press your photograph face down into the drop, pressing down so that some gooshes out of the edges (then you know it's covered the whole photo).

Add another drop of Diamond Glaze.

Press down the tack.

That's it!

It's so simple I did them all in one quick crafty evening. What made this gift a little extra special was the presentation. I cut the cork to fit the inside of the Altoids tin. The tin would be an equally cute way to gift refrigerator magnets made with this same technique.

Enjoy!

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