Easy-To-Make Emoji Magnets – Sticky Fun For The Textually Active

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Emoji refrigerator magnets

If a picture is worth a thousand words, an emoji is worth, well, still only one emotion. But that one emotion is worth a thousand words. So, tuh-may-toe, tuh-mah-toe. Emojis, smileys, emoticons, kaomojis, emotive pictographs; whatever you call them, these playful text accoutrements have found their way into and onto pretty much every aspect of modern culture (they’re even movie stars now). Today, we bring whimsy to the kitchen with the irresistible cuteness of emoji magnets. It’s easy, it’s fun and it’ll save you the grueling hassle of laboriously spelling out entire words like a played sucka. 😀

In Print, Get It. I’m Not ASCII-ing You – I’m Telling You

Emoji patterns
Print a second copy for any emojis having features other than just the overall shape.

The first step is to print out your favorite emojis. A quick Google search will turn up sites like https://getemoji.com/. Copy the ones you want and paste them into your favorite image program. Size as needed, then print.

Filling in the cut lines
Where features overlap the underlying shape, draw cut lines to follow.

The print-out is our cutting template. For emojis that have details (such as faces), print a second copy as a pattern for the eyes, mouths and other features. (-_-)

Cut And Paste

Cutting out the emojis
Cutting the parts on a scroll saw.

Coat the back of the pattern with spray adhesive, let it stand for 15–20 seconds, then adhere it to your material. In this case, I’m using 3/16” plywood. Cut out the shapes with a scroll saw or coping saw.

Emoji parts
All of the wooden parts for my emoji refrigerator magnets.

Transfer The Feature Locations

Engraving lines
Using a Dremel Stylo+ to engrave shallow lines.

Next, score the underlying material with an X-Acto style razor knife, scratch awl or by tracing heavily with a ball point pen so that you can accurately position the features once the patterns are removed. You want some sort of mark or indention that won’t be lost when painted. Here, I’m using the Dremel Stylo+ (a future Home Fixated tool review) with an engraving bit to gently score the surface of the emoji heads.

Positioning marks
Now we know exactly where to position the features.

Stay slightly inside of the lines. That way they’ll be hidden once the features are applied.

Remove The Patterns And Sand The Edges

The backs are marked
To avoid possible confusion later, I marked the bottom side of each part.

Mark the backs of each piece then peel away the patterns and sand everything smooth. Each of my parts took a minute or less. Most of the work was along the edges. Especially the bottom edges, where the blade exits the cut.

Sanding the emojis
A sanding sponge makes easy work of the edges.

Colors Worth Smiley-ing About 🙂

Acrylic paints
On small projects you’re going to paint before gluing, acrylics are a great choice.

What’s an emoji magnet without color? I’ll tell you what it is: boring! To make my emojis the vibrant emotive icons they’re intended to be, I colored them with acrylic paints. They leave a surface that’s easy to glue to and dry quickly, allowing me to move on without much of a wait.

Colorful emoji parts
Colorful pieces.

All Glued Up And Ready To Go

A little dab will do
A thin coat of glue on the back of each piece is plenty.

Put a little glue on the backs of the feature pieces and stick them to the heads. No clamping necessary.

Assembled emojis
The engraved lines from earlier made it easy to position the parts.

Make Your Emoji Magnets More Attractive

Magnets, how do they work?
No need for high-powered neodymiums. Inexpensive ceramic (ferrite) or flexible magnets will work just fine.

Not to make you blush or anything, but we at Home Fixated find you quite attractive! No, really. 😀 And we think your emojis should reflect your magnetic personality. Because, frankly, you’d look kind of silly standing there manually holding these things against the refrigerator all day and night. Especially at someone else’s house.

An attractive feature
A magnet epoxied to the back keeps your emoji in its place.

Know Your Poop Emoji From Shine-ola

Spray lacquer
The lacquer topcoat dries quickly and crystal clear.

Give the front and back of your emoji magnets a few coats of your clear finish of choice.

Well hello there!
The clear coat really makes the colors pop!

You can see this build in action here:

What Emojis Will You Choose For Your Emoji Magnets? ¯\_(-_-)_/¯

Love them or hate them, you can’t deny the power of emojis to convey expression and intention, the subtle social cues that are often missing from the written word. Their absence can inadvertently turn a playful tease into a hurtful insult and your LOL into a WTF.

Granted, these emoji magnets may not do much for your next SMS conversation, but they’ll be there to remind that special someone that you’re thinking of them. Or, perhaps, to let them know what a frowny-face eggplant they’ve been lately. 😀

Smileys at home
Now we can finally tell whether our refrigerator really loves us or is just being sarcastic.
Photo of author

About Steve

Steve made his first woodworking project at age 9 (in 1982) and whittled his first wooden chain at 18. He was also a consumer electronics repair tech and shop owner for a little over 20 years, until his impending obsolescence became impossible to ignore. Since then, Steve has focused passionately on manipulating his wood... in his workshop. Don't judge him.

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