DIY: Repurposed Tins as Magnetic Organizers + Free Printable
Hello lovelies! I am proud to say that today's post was dreamed up by my sweet 11 year old daughter, Miss K. The other day I walked into my kitchen to discover that she'd brilliantly repurposed an old Chimes candy tin as a magnetic pencil holder on our fridge! I definitely had one of those, "why didn't I think of that" moments and asked her if I could share her smarty-pants idea with you all here today. This project is so ridiculously simple it literally takes seconds to do. Here are the easy directions:
Collect up your supplies:
You will need:
- Small tins (tea tins, mint tins, and candy tins are perfect). Tins that open at the top will be best for pencils, while tins with lids will work well for small doodads such as sewing pins).
- Super strong magnets (we had ours laying around - but they originally came from Michael's craft store). You can probably find similar magnets at hardware and office supply stores.
How to:
- Place a minimum of two super strong magnets on your fridge or any metal surface you would like to use. A metal knife rack (for instance) can be used in your craft room to hold scissors, and tins filled with pins + notions.
- Take your tin of choice and attach it to the magnets. No gluing needed. The magnet with hold it in place for as long as you'd like.
- That's it! Fill with pencils, or whatever odds and ends you'd like and enjoy!
I also put together these cute little Bird Brain Shopping Lists + Notes Lists for you to download and print. Along with the designed lists there is also one (text-free) list per page (perfect for use as a bookmark, or whatever else you can dream up). Simply print your file onto standard paper or card stock, cut out and enjoy!
- Download Bird Brain Shopping Lists (prints 4 lists per page)
- Download Bird Brain Notes Lists (prints 4 per page)
Enjoy! xo Ez + Miss K
45 Lovely Comments | Email Article | found in Babies + Kids + Families, D.I.Y. + Projects, Downloads + Printables, Paper Goods, Tutorials Print Article | Share This | 
| by Ez Thursday, July 8, 2010 
Reader Comments (45)
brilliant! i love that you don't even need to DO anything, just magnets! your daughter is very clever, and clearly learned a lot watching her mom :)
How absolutely clever! She certainly takes after her mama!
At first I thought your daughter did glue the magnets on the tins somehow, but this is even more simple and less time-consuming! Very lovely idea!
Genius idea K!!! That deserves a firemen's pole jump ;)
brilliant!
Such a clever idea!
Thank you very much miss K.!
*hearts*
oh, that's so funny, my daughter did the same thing last year with my old coffee tins! we have them on the fridge and microwave. Wild how alike kids think. I think we used 4 magnets though because the tins are a little bigger. Love the printable too, thanks for sharing!
Clearly brilliance is in the genes! I love this idea and I am SO going to use this one in our new place! Off to print up my shopping list! Thanks so much!!!
brilliant! creativity definitely runs in the family!
Great idea! I feel so stupid now because I started to think about what kind of glue to use.... :-D
Your girl is so clever! This is a great solution!
What a sweet idea! I'm going to go seek out some tins now.
Thanks for the download too!
*May I ask what is the name of the font you used? love it!!*
this is brilliant! Thanks for sharing!
The Design Dish
Your daughter is so creative! I have a few cute tea tins that I have lying around- and I love magnets (have huge collection on fridge) - this idea is simply brilliant!
I love this project! What a great idea.
You've also been tagged. If you could answer some questions that would be awesome! =)
http://meltung.blogspot.com/2010/07/tag.html
Brilliant idea! Thanks so much for the lists :)
This is an awesome idea! :)
Miss K,
Thank you so much for sharing this simple, yet genius idea with us. You sound like a brilliant young lady.
omg, this idea is genius! your daughter is very clever :) i have tons of these little tea tins lying around, now i know what to do with them!
xoxo,
lesley
She has obviously inherited your talent :)! How cool is that!! I'm thinking the same thing...why didn't I think of this? such a great idea
This is awesome! You have one little creative girl on your hands :)
wow! one of 'eureka' moments!
How cute! I love the lists as well, thank you so much!
www.ourcorneroftheearth.blogspot.com
I love these! What a brilliant idea. Now if only I had some cute tins laying around the house...
-e
LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!
I have a vintage tea tin and I loved the look of putting flowers in it...but, unfortunately it must not be totally sealed shut enough for the water so this is an awesome way to use it!
thanks!