A common resolution is to get organized. Often, this means that you have to do a massive clean-up first.  Eventually, you will make your way through broken jewelry, old pins and other mementos, and are faced with what to do with them. The choice is to either store the junk or throw it away. Well there is another solution, which is to make an eco-friendly craft.  Whether it is a pendant from an old necklace, or a flat toy you can repurpose these odds and ends into really cool and useful magnets for your fridge, your locker or teachers for there chalkboards. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will be using a pendant from a piece of costume jewelry.

What you need:

• Pendant (or other odds and ends)
• Magnet (you can repurpose old magnets from take-out places, relaters etc… or you can buy a sheet of magnet from the local business supply store or you can repurpose the magnet backing from a broken magnet you have)
• Glue gun or super glue
• Scissors
• Pliers
• Wire cutters (only in some cases)

What to do:

1. Choose your item, in this case a old pendant that says love, it is costume jewelry
2. With pliers open the jump ring which allows the pendant to be put on the chain  and remove it. (In some cases you will need the wire cutters to get the bauble you are using to become flat. If you are repurposing an old pin, the kind with a cute saying or something, you would need the wire cutters to snap off the actually backing of the pin,)
3. Once the item is flat, place the magnet against the back of it and measure how much you need
4. Cut magnet to fit
5. Using hot glue gun or super glue, place glue carefully around the edges (and if the item you are using is flat in the middle as well) make sure you do not put the glue right at the very edge as you do not want the glue will ooze out.
6. Let dry for 10 minutes

This is an eco-friendly and fun activity and you can make magnets out of anything. Other household items that would be great for an eco-friendly magnet can range from game pieces, to mini picture frames (just break off the piece that allows it to stand up) and clippings from magazines (your teen or tween might love to make their own Twilight magnets with magazine photos). Note, that just like with any other craft adult help is needed, as children should not be allowed to use a glue gun or super glue on their own.

For teachers, this is a great way to have magnets that are seasonal or corresponds to the units they are working on. This can also be an eco-friendly art project if the children are asked to bring in something from home to be repurposed as a magnet. As you can see this is a fun and useful project that will also help you get rid of some of the junk you have mounting up around the house.