DIY Cracked Glass Gem Magnets

With gentle cracks throughout, DIY Cracked Glass Gem Magnets are a simple craft that can add beauty to your fridge or wherever you hang magnets. Use them for your home or give them as a sweet gift!

Crafts are so much fun! Whether you are making them for yourself or as a gift. It’s wonderful to take something simple and turn it into something beautiful.

DIY Cracked Glass Gem Magnets are a simple craft that my five-year-old daughter and I made for her grandparents. We wanted to make them something practical that they could use every day. What’s more practical than magnets, right?! We all use them. Whether it’s a grocery list, the day’s to-dos, family photos, or pictures, magnets help to keep what we need right where we need them.

For a holiday gift, we thought it would be fun to make gemstone magnets. This way, the grandparents would have a beautiful gift that they can use and enjoy every single day.  What’s not to love!

With just a few simple steps, you can make your own cracked gems. We loved them so much, we even made some for our fridge. But more on that later!

Make Your Own DIY Cracked Glass Gem Magnets

When you are shopping for glass gems, you’ll want to find ones with a flat back. This way, when they are glued to the magnet, they will sit flat against the magnet.

Since we’re talking magnets, we found that some magnets are better than others. First I bought the rolled up adhesive kind. I thought they would be perfect because you could cut them to size and they would stick right on the gem. Easy, right?!?! Well, they were easy, but the magnets were not very strong. They would hold up the gem, but nothing else. So, I ran back to the store for more supplies.

The second time around, I found the perfect magnets. They are round and just the right size for the stones. Plus, the magnets are strong enough for the stones and anything else you’ll want to display. We’ve used them to hold up some paper artwork and even a wooden frame. Now, that’s the perfect magnet!

Ok, it sounds like I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Now, that we have the supplies (gemstone, magnets, hot glue) with a few other household staples (paper, pencil, scissors, and glue) we are ready to make our DIY Cracked Glass Gem Magnets

To give the gemstones their unique cracked effect, you’ll want to place the gemstones evenly on a baking sheet. Bake them in a preheated oven at 425 F (220 C) for 20 minutes.

Right before the gemstones are done, you’ll want to fill a plastic bowl with water and ice. The ice cold water helps the gemstones get their interesting cracks throughout. So, when the gems are finished baking, carefully drop them into the ice cold water.

Almost immediately, the stones are done. Easy, right! When you take them out of the water, you’ll see that each stone is completely unique. Somehow they all crack a little differently. Some have more cracks, some have less, but they are all beautiful.

You may want to bake a few more gemstones than you’ll need. We found that a couple of ours were cracked on the outside as well as the inside. But, most of them were still perfectly flat on the outside.

In the picture below you can see the difference between the stones before they are cracked and after. Just look at how interesting they are. Each one is so different.

We decided to make some blue and some clear stones. My five-year-old daughter loved how the two stones looked together. You can choose any colour stones, but we found that most of the clear ones had better cracks throughout.

Since we are placing the gemstones on magnets, we decided to add white paper to the back. With a white background, you can see the cracks easier and you won’t see the black magnet behind it.

To make sure that the paper backing fits the gemstone, you can trace each stone on paper with a pen or pencil. My daughter had a lot of fun tracing the gemstone, while I cut them out. Once they were all cut out, we glued them to the back.

You can use Mod Podge to glue the paper backing or you can make your own watered down glue mix. We used simple white glue and water. We found that using equal parts of glue and water works best. It thins the glue so that you hardly see it, but it holds perfectly.

We glued each gemstone twice. The first time, we glued the white background on. Once it was dry, we glued the back of the background. This way, the gemstone has a firm backing that won’t peel away.

Now, all that’s left is the final touch – the magnet. On the back of the glued white paper, add a dot of hot glue. Press the round magnet onto the gemstone and your DIY Cracked Glass Gem Magnets are done! Place them on your fridge or give them as a sweet one-of-a-kind gift!

Don’t they look nice on our fridge!

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