Philly Home Show Magnet Board

Hey there! Lots to catch you up on, but before I go there, I want to tell you about this fun project we did at the Philly Home Show this year- We made a magnet board with metal tiles from Aspect, plywood from Pure Bond, and a Cricut Air Expressions 2 machine.

Who is “we”? Well my awesome friend Evey from Evey’s Creations of course! We love to travel together and make messes! You can read about a previous trip to Philly here. We were so excited to get asked to come back and equally excited when Aspect, Pure Bond and Cricut were kind enough to sponsor us again (also grateful to Ryobi since their router table came in super handy for this too… but I am getting ahead of myself..)

When Evey and I make these trips, we have to come up with a project that is fairly easy for nearly anyone and is also something people would want to do…while that sounds easy, it is not always. I often worry about the skill level being too high or the project taking too long. The whole thing has to be done start to finish in 45 mins or less- this is not easy in a noisy room with 15 people of varying skill sets. I am constantly asking brands for info on new products and concepts to see what is out there. I figure if you’re going to show off their stuff, why not tell people about the latest and greatest?! AMMIRIGHT?!

When I reached out to Aspect, they let me know their distressed metal peel and stick tiles were ready to go (YES, I said peel-and-stick!). I had seen these at Haven last year and excitedly tested them to learn they were even magnetic! Super exciting and can you imagine an entire wall of them in a kitchen?! Easy to clean, hang the kids art, notes to the family…. SO FUN! (I’m thinking you could use them with dry erase markers too, but I haven’t tested that theory yet)

Once we come up with a project, I like to make it and pay attention to the steps to make sure there are no surprises. I am SO glad I did it this time- let me show you why….

It wasn’t a hard project. I just cut the plywood to the size I was thinking (12×16) and then cut cedar 1 x 2s for the sides. I laid it all out… it was hideous- Way too deep and wide plus super weird… luckily I wasn’t at the class and I can (sometimes) think on the fly… I pulled out my Ryobi router table (which I totally stinking love by the way) and set it up and just cut a trough in the middle of the board.

It turned out to be pretty awesome.In addition to looking better, it also protected the sharp metal edges from hurting anyone if they didn’t file them smooth like I would request them to do- BONUS!

Laying that out, I could see that this was going to work just fine. On we go…

Here is where we set up shop:

Heading up to Philly, we had a great time in the magnet board class and it seems our students did too!

Notice how they are all wearing gloves and safety glasses when dealing with the metal? Cut metal is SHARP! PLEASE wear protective gear when you’re working with these items- I’m not playing. On addition to tin snips you can also cut these tiles with a grinder or metal blade on your saw and rotary cutter.

Once the tiles were  used a few dots of construction adhesive to the inside of the routed “tracks” secures everything together when it all sets up. Then we pulled out the Cricut and showed them how to cut words, shapes and sayings- The newest “Cricut Maker” machine even cuts fabric (with no backing) and even wood- SO cool!!

We took some permanent vinyl and added a word and when it was done, we had this awesome magnet board:

Super cute, right? I am loving it in my kitchen for notes, memos, grocery lists, things I am not supposed to forget about, etc.

Couple other things I want to mention about our trip- the hotel was SUPER incredible! The surroundings were peaceful and also beautiful and current.

The food was quite tasty. I can’t believe we missed breakfast at the hotel for the first few days we were there. We went out every morning but the last one…. Ugh.

Every single member of the staff we came in contact with treated us like we were friends (though still super professional). They were incredibly helpful, kind, and in some cases crazy fun… like this: I would like to introduce you to the world’s BEST bartender: meet Troy

Every single night he was there. Smile on his face, remembered everything that was said the night before and was even sweet enough to indulge my desire to recycle and reuse super cool bottles…. if you ever find yourself in Phoenixville, PA… stay at the Hilton Garden Inn and tell them I said Howdy! (plus give Troy a hug if you’re the hugging type- he will love it!)

That’s the trip to Philly this time, and the awesome DIY class we did. As usual it was fantastic and I am super grateful to Aspect, Pure Bond, and Cricut for sponsoring our adventure (and always to Ryobi Power Tools for believing in me from the get-go). I have so much fun meeting new people and showing them how to do fun things for themselves!

Oh yes, and if you were following on social media, you may have noticed I made a new friend….

She is COMPLETELY fabulous and I completely adore her!! Did you know Trading Spaces is coming back on April 7th? If you’re local, I am having a watching party (I haven’t told Brian yet, but I will show off the new apartment and we will cheer on my girl Paige and everyone else!) Want to come? You’re invited- just let me know and I’ll hand out the address!

Now, as to why I am so crazy behind THIS time? We decided maybe we want to move… found a 33+ acre farm a few miles up the road and put in an offer. They accepted so we had two weeks to get our house ready… it was a challenge but I did it! I am hoping to have pictures to show you in the next few days- they were supposed to be taken a week ago but we had a big wind storm last week and lost power for FIVE DAYS!! (I am NOT even kidding).

The open house was FINALLY yesterday (it was scheduled for last week but you can’t do that with no power). Eleven families came through and the feedback was positive… so I guess we will see… Brian is on the fence about moving now (because let’s be honest, it’s a pain in the rear end).. so basically its all the usual crazy zoo adventure it always is here….

That was a lot of info but I hope I am leaving you laughing at my ridiculousness.

Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Have a show that happens near you that might be a great place to show folks  how to make stuff? Hit me up- I love hearing from you!

Love and hugs!

~Scottie