Magnetic Family Home Evening Board

Our ward had a Super Saturday activity last month.

I was asked to teach the ladies how to make a Family Home Evening (FHE) board.

I have been needing one for a little while now.

I started doing some research on what I wanted.

I knew that I wanted a magnetic board,

but I did not want to deal with sheet metal.

I couldn't find anything that I really wanted to do that was inexpensive and easy.

I also don't have a cricut or silhouette machine to cut vinyl.

I headed to Photoshop and came up with the following layout,

as well as the different colors and fonts to chose from.

 The ladies only had to pick the color and font and I got the rest of the supplies.

It ended up costing only $5 for the entire craft!

That includes one small bottle of ModPodge divided 5 ways.

If you don't already own ModPodge, it will cost more. 

Supplies Needed:

- 11x17 color copy (on cardstock) of the FHE paper

I got them printed at the UPS Store for $.98 a piece

- 9x13 cookie sheet

I found them for $.92 each at WalMart

You will need to drill two holes at the top, see below

- 1 bottle of Matte ModPodge

- 1 Foam Brush

- Wooden spoons spray painted lightly with white

I found these at my local dollar store, 100 for $1

- Magnets, 2 per spoon

- Ribbon to match color of FHE layout sheet

Instructions:

1. Take your FHE paper and cut it out, make sure that you round the corners.

2. Lay it on the back of the cookie sheet to see if it fits.

You do not want any part of the paper curving up the side of the cookie sheet.

The paper needs to be completely flush (lay flat) on the cookie sheet.

 3. Once that is done, drill two holes on the top of your cookie sheet.

I did not take a picture of this, my husband did it for me.

I put a mark at the 2" and 7" point with a sharpie.

My husband drilled an initial 1/8" pilot hole.

From there, he did a 1/4" hole.

If you go any bigger than that, the hole will not be a clean cut and will destroy your ribbon.

4. Put a nice even layer of ModPodge on the back of the cookie sheet.

You don't want blobs of ModPodge, just enough to glue the paper to the cookie sheet.

 I decided to put the FHE paper on the back of the cookie sheet for one main reason.

You can store you unused spoons inside the cookie sheet and

it will still hang nice and flat against your wall.

Does that make sense?

 5. Take your hand and smooth the paper against the cookie sheet.

 5a. Make sure that the edges are glued nicely to the cookie sheet.

I took my finger and rubbed it around the edges to make sure it was secure.

It only has to dry long enough for the paper to not slide around anymore,

only about 1-2 minutes.

6. Put a nice amount of ModPodge on top of the paper.

Spread it evenly with your foam sponge.

Make sure that you brush in long strokes that move in the same direction.

 6a. I took my finger and spread the ModPodge around the edges

(to make extra sure that it was secured to the cookie sheet),

then used my brush to even out the ModPodge, so the strokes matched.

7. Let it dry for at least 30 minutes.

You can do a second coat if you would like, but it is not necessary.

I did a second coat because my brush strokes weren't as even as I liked.

8. Write your names on the spoons with a fine point Sharpie.

9. Hot glue the magnets to the back of each spoon.

One magnet would have been sufficient, but I could not put

one magnet in the center, or it would have been visible.

That is why I used two magnets for each spoon, one on each side.

10. Feed your ribbon through the holes and tie a bow.

Be careful with pulling the ribbon through the holes.

The hole is not going to be smooth and

could shred your ribbon if you pull it too much.

If you are interested in one of these custom made FHE papers,

leave me a comment with your email address and I will see what I can do.