Tutorial - Bee Magnets

I have been playing around with my felt stash lately after remembering a cute little bee I used to draw in my school diary.

The result is my crazy eyed bee magnets!

They are really easy to make once everything has been cut out. If you have little kids you could cut all the pieces out for them, then they can just glue it together.  To make it even easier, you can print the template at a bigger size.

Print your template through google docs here.

Now lets get started with the tutorial:

1. First you need to gather your supplies:

·         Printed template

·         Fabric glue

·         Super Glue or PVA/Hot/Tacky Glue (I used super glue as it dries fast – however it does show through the felt)

·         Felt – Black, yellow and white (or any colour you like – who says a bee has to be yellow?)

·         Magnets (I bought mine on eBay – they came with sticky back, precut in big sheets – mine are 3.8cm x 2cm)

·         For the eyes – either a hole punch for the black felt or googly eyes

·         Cardboard

·         Scissors

·         Washable marking pen and chalk

2. Cut out you cardboard backing template piece. Tape it onto your piece of cardboard, making sure to tape down all the edges.

3. Now simply start cutting out your cardboard backing. By taping down the template you can easily follow the template lines. This is easier than trying to trace the image onto the cardboard. Best of all, the template can be used over and over – the tape just makes it stronger.

4. Cut out the body template. Trace onto your yellow felt, then cut it out.

5. Cut out the wing template. Trace onto your white felt, then cut it out. Repeat for the second wing.

6. Cut out your stripe template. Trace onto your black felt, then cut it out. Repeat for the second stripe.

7. Cut out the eye template. Trace onto your white felt, then cut it out. Repeat for the second eye.

8. If you are using felt eyes, use your hole punch to cut 2 circles out of black felt.

9. If you are using googly eyes, it is as easy as picking the size you want!

10. Lay out all of your pieces to make the glueing process easy. This way you won’t be searching for any of the pieces you have cut out.

·         You will notice the cardboard backing piece is smaller than all of your felt pieces. This is so it will not show around the edges of the felt.

11. Start by applying your super glue to the body section of the cardboard.

12. Place the body piece onto your glued area, ensuring it covers the cardboard edges.

13. Now glue your wings into place, ensuring they butt up to the body and cover the cardboard edges.

14. Apply your fabric glue to the stripes and stick them in place.

15. Apply your fabric glue to the white eye pieces and stick them in place.

16. If you are using felt eyes, use your fabric glue to stick them in place.

17. If you are using googly eyes, use your super glue to stick them in place.

18. After your glue has dried you can simply stick your magnet on the back and pop it on your fridge!

Try not to use excessive amounts of glue as it will soak into your felt and show at the front (see the red bee). I did use super glue on one complete bee; however I would not suggest using it between two pieces of felt. It does hold it in place, but pulls off very easily.

You can use 3D fabric paint to draw little mouths on your bees like on my red bee.

If you don’t have any felt just use iron-on interfacing on fabric in place of the felt. The interfacing will stop the fabric fraying and you can glue it all together just like the felt.

You could even use coloured cardstock or paper for wall decorations.

* Edited to add this image of the template so you can simply right click and save as...