Tin can magnetic spelling game

After seeing these refrigerator magnets made out of tin can lids, (the link is to a blog, for a sweet young lady, please go leave her a comment about the adorable work she did!) the wheels started turning, exactly how I got from refrigerator magnets to spelling game I don't know, but this keeps my kids busy in church! I have made several sets of these now, the first ones didn't have felt on the back, just a bead of hot glue around the edge of the lid, felt is way cuter. Also these lids are cut off using one of those sideways can openers from Pampered Chef so the edges are not raw, and not dangerous (or barely dangerous). DO NOT USE CAN LIDS WITH SHARP EDGES...SOMEONE WILL GET HURT...IF SOMEONE GETS HURT, DON'T BLAME ME...PLEASE. If you don't have the nifty sideways can opener, use frozen juice lids, or email me and I will send you some lids, I have some extra...I won't tell you how many...it is embarrassing.


What you need:
felt, any colors
scissors
tacky glue
tin can lids
cups that tin can lids will fit into
modge podge
magnetic strips or magnetic paper
alphabet stickers and words or printed alphabet and printed words (I recently saw some of those little magnetic poetry games in the dollar section at Michael's that would be cute with this!)

Cut circles out of the felt that are about 1/4"-1/2" bigger than your lids.

Put a bead of glue around the (semi) exposed edge of the can.

Step 3 is to maneuver the lid down into a plastic cup, where the felt will be held in place OVERNIGHT! This way the glue has time to set up. If you take it out too soon the edges just peel away, but even leaving it in over night, the glue wasn't dry all the way. So step 4 is to take it out of the cup, and let the glue dry, I waited overnight again. Step 5, trim away the excess felt from the edges. DON'T trim the felt until the glue is dry.

Step 6 option one--using the magnetic strip, which is already sticky on one side, adhere your letters to the sticky part and then trim away the excess, cut each letter out individually and stick them to the top of one of the lids.

Step 6 option two--using the magnetic paper, modge podge the individual letters to the paper and then cut them out, and stick them to the top of one of the lids.

Also modge podge the words you have chosen or the sticker letters to the top of the other lids. And there you have it! I left one of the lids blank so the kids could make their own words. My friend Ashley suggested making a bunch of words out of the magnetic paper so they could switch the words in and out, which might keep them occupied longer.

Project Rating:
Supplies--I had everything on-hand. You can get magnetic paper at any craft store, it is kind of spendy, about $3 for one little sheet, but you don't use very much of it, so you would have plenty left over for another project.
Execution--I hate waiting for glue to dry...so that part was torture for me. But the rest was pretty simple.
Fun factor--It was fun because I had an opportunity to craft something!
Mess factor--Just scraps of felt to clean up, and glue off my fingers! The plastic cups had some glue on the inside, which peeled right off.
Teach the lesson--There was no lesson to teach this time, but the kids are quiet for about 10 minutes with it in church!
Side notes/learned by experience--the kid cups you get from restaurants worked great for stuffing the lids inside, because they fit perfectly inside the lip. Also the magnetic strip was easier to work with for the individual letters.

Other things to do with tin can lids:
Chalkboard paint magnets
More magnets, with vintage photos and clever quips, by Popnicute!
And more magnets, by Recycled Crafts...
Snowman craft, by Craftbits
Pictures with punched out nail holes, by Marlie's Creative Universe, these are Christmas, but you could do any holiday, or theme.
Purple people eater game instructions, by DLTK
Wind chimes, by Se7en
Turn them into ladybugs with felt and pipe cleaners for antennae
Make a magnetic clock for learning how to tell time
I also saw these somewhere with kids' school pictures glued in, and decorated...don't remember where.