Easily Make Your Stickers Last Longer, Moveable, and Sturdier by Turning Them Into Magnets

Easily Make Your Stickers Last Longer, Moveable, and Sturdier by Turning Them Into Magnets

A couple months ago I switched computers which led to me peeling off my favorite stickers from the computer monitor. I was sad to lose them but wasn’t sure how I could keep them as they weren’t as sticky once peeled off. One thing led to another and I remembered the 4×6 inch peel and stick magnet sheets I bought years ago for photos and never got around to using. I grabbed one of them, peeled the backing off, stuck the adhesive side of the magnet sheet and sticker together, and then cut the newly made magnet out. The resulting magnets turned out perfectly and I’ve since created several more magnets from stickers! I’m so glad I stumbled upon this idea as it’s so simple and knew I needed to share it with you!

Pinterest-geared image with a collage of four images, shown below, along with my post's title "Easily Make Your Stickers Last Longer, Moveable, and Sturdier by Turning Them Into Magnets" and main URL (SimplyKyra.com).

This all came to pass when I switched from my main computer to my laptop. Over the last several years I had made a point of not adding anything to my computer monitor; recently though, after seeing Matt’s decorated laptop so frequently I finally gave in and added several stickers to the bottom. Some of these stickers I figured I could easily replace but a few of them I knew would be close to impossible and I was disappointed at the thought of losing them. Those particular ones I carefully peeled from the monitor and stuck them, temporarily, onto the side of the fridge until I could figure out how to save them.

Image shows the bottom of my computer monitor. On the left is a partially peeled sticker showing a circuit board version of The Great Wave off Kanagawa. To the right is a white circular sticker with a sewing machine and two people on it from Whimsy Baby Customs.
I wasn’t too worried about the stickers from Whimsy and Tea Spot as I figured they could eventually be replaced. That said I had one circuit board-esque sticker of The Great Wave off Kanagawa along with a 2020 dumpster fire one from Geek Garden Fabric that I adored.
Image shows two stickers attached to the grey magnetic sheet on my fridge. The one sticker is thicker and flat while the other one is curling up showing it's only attached at the top.
I carefully peeled my two favorite stickers off of the computer monitor and pressed them, slightly, against my fridge so they’d be safe while I figured out what to do with them later.

I had recently received a surprise Bluey-inspired magnet with my custom fabric order from Sweet Tickles Prints. At first I was slightly disappointed to realize it was a magnet as I had pictured it next to my other stickers on my computer monitor. Then Matt reminded me that I had a metal pegboard, bought from the Container Store, behind my computer and I stuck it there instead. I absolutely loved it there as I knew it would just get lost and ignored on the refrigerator door. Anyway, I wanted to share this quick magnet story with you as seeing it now made me wonder if I could turn my stickers into magnets. I knew I had a roll of skinny adhesive magnet tape and, once found, I also discovered an unopened package of 4 by 6 inch adhesive magnetic sheets I bought to attach to photographs. I realized this would work perfectly so I grabbed a sheet, removed the backing, and stuck the slightly less sticky stickers next to each other on the back of the magnet sheet.

Image shows the magnetic sheet with the backing halfway pulled off. Underneath you can see the two stickers stuck to the black back. Beside it lays the remaining sheets in the package.
I finally opened the pack of adhesive magnetic sheets, grabbed a sheet, peeled off the backing, and stuck the two stickers to the back of it.

Once the stickers were secured to the back I cut them out from the rest of the sheet and then cut them apart from each other. I then, very carefully, trimmed around the outside of each sticker making sure that no black magnet showed beyond the sides of the sticker.

Image shows the two stickers stuck to the magnetic sheet. They're cut from the rest of the strip and set aside a bit from the rest. Scissors and the packaging is to the side.
I cut the stickers away from the rest of the magnet so the remaining portion of the magnetic sheet was ready for any future use.
Image shows the two stickers with the magnetic backing trimmed away so you can't tell they’re magnets. In the background is the rest of the magnet sheet, scissors, packaging, and magnetic pieces.
I the cut the two magnets apart and then, very carefully, trimmed each one so the sticker itself became the magnet without any sticky black magnet sticking out from the sides.

Once trimmed they were done! No waiting for glue to dry or any other awkward or lengthy steps. I immediately put them on the pinboard next to the Bluey magnet and loved how they all looked together. That said my favorite part was that I knew they could easily be moved without any potential damage unlike when they were stickers.

The image shows the metal pegboard with the Bluey and dumpster fire magnets at the top and the circuit board art magnet at the bottom center.
I loved how they all looked together on the metal pegboard and especially loved how they could be moved if needed.

Sometime during or after this process Matt found a website, Make Stickers, that allows you to order custom stickers. He ordered a pile of SimplyKyra ones as a surprise for me. When they arrived I quickly put two on my laptop and one on the base of my computer monitor. I also wanted to make one of the stickers more permanent so I followed this process again turning one of the SimplyKyra stickers into a magnet. I loved having the SimplyKyra sticker on the pinboard next to the other three magnets!

Image shows the pile of custom SimplyKyra stickers spread out on the base of my computer monitor's stand. In the center is one stuck to the center stand. A plastic USB TARDIS sits off to the side.
I loved these custom stickers!
Image shows the magnetic sheet with the SimplyKyra sticker on the left side.
I had just enough room left on the remaining magnetic sheet to stick this SimplyKyra sticker onto it too.
Image shows the SimplyKyra magnet trimmed so the backing is the same shape as the sticker. Behind it is the white sticker backing with pieces of the magnet still stuck to it. To the right are a pair of scissors.
Once stuck I carefully trimmed the excess magnetic sheet from the edge of the sticker saving any larger pieces in case I needed it in the future.
Image shows all four magnets attached to the metal pinboard above my laptop screen.
I was able to quickly and easily move them around making all four of the magnets visible above my open laptop screen.

Back in mid-November I was browsing my Etsy recommendations and decided I wanted to buy more from Karen Hallion’s Etsy shop. I love her artwork and have bought from her shop previously along with following her Instagram page (karenhallionart) and backing her last two kickstarter projects. This time around I realized her magnets were a bit cheaper than her stickers but then quickly saw that I already owned the only two magnets in her shop. Instead I grabbed some postcards, a notecard that wasn’t available as a postcard that I needed to have, and several stickers that I knew I needed to turn into magnets for my pinboard. I then waited on edge until they arrived. They were gorgeous and I love that knowing this little trick meant that I had so many more designs from her shop to choose from.

Image shows the postcards (Defy, Compute, and 13th) along the right side of the image. The Olaf Doctor Who snowmen notecard is to the left. At the bottom left are the three stickers I bought including "Never Never Quit", Bad Wolf, Mo Willems -esque, and one labeled "'Allo Seasonings" from Labyrinth.
Loved when the new postcards, notecard, and stickers arrived. Especially enjoyed all the selection in the sticker area as the magnets only included two products I had already bought for my girls.

Two of her stickers fit perfectly together on one magnetic sheet. The other two stickers; however, were a bit larger and although I considered giving them each one magnetic sheet I instead decided to put them together on one sheet to save more of the magnets for later. This meant the edges of these two stickers overlapped so I curled the overlapping sticker back a bit to cut the two stickers apart and then grabbed two magnet remnants from before to back that sticker edge. I’m not sure, looking back, how long these smaller pieces will stay together… but it did work so far.

Image shows two magnetic sheets side by side covered with stickers. The magnetic sheet backing and sticker backing lays off to the side in the background. The left sticker sheet shows the labyrinth-inspired sticker and the Mo Willems' one slightly overlapping.
I had run out of room on the first magnetic sheet but these stickers were large enough that I would’ve needed new sheets either way. The Never Never Quit sticker fit great with the Bad Wolf one but the other two slightly overlapped.
Image shows a closeup of the Labyrinth-inspired sticker with two other pieces of magnet attached to the lower left side of the sticker. It's turned around so in the photo it looks like the upper right side.
After lifting the Labyrinth-inspired sticker up so I could cut between the two I then used the leftover pieces of magnets to cover the back of the last corner so the entire sticker would be a magnet.
Image shows all four magnets with the magnetic sheet backing off to the side coated in excess little bits. Two magnets are trimmed completely, one partially with the scissors overtop, and one final one is waiting to be trimmed.
With all four stickers backed with magnets it was time to trim the excess magnetic backing away making each of the magnets sticker-shaped and less sticky.

While writing this post I received another Bluey themed pre-order from Sweet Tickles Prints that came with a sticker rather than a magnet this time. The sticker included a small, planned, hole in the center so I knew turning it into a magnet would be a bit more complicated as it would be trifficult (link to correlating Bluey episode on YouTube) to cut out.

Since both the magnet and the sticker were sticky on the back I decided to use something else to go between the two items thus making it simpler as I wouldn’t need to carefully cut out the center or even along each dip on the edge. I wanted the item to be smooth and shiny but, after going through my recycling bag, I settled on using simple cardstock instead. After grabbing a piece a bit bigger than the sticker I was ready to go!

Image shows a new 4x6 inch magnetic sheet, a new shiny sticker, a white remnant of cardstock, and a pair of scissors.
Like before I assembled all the items I needed but this time I included a sheet of cardstock. I wanted to use something black and/or shinier but couldn’t find anything and I didn’t want to color it in in case it no longer stuck to the sticker.

With the items ready I removed the backing from the sticker and stuck it to the cardstock. I didn’t want to waste too much of the magnetic sheet so I made sure to trim the excess cardstock around the sticker before peeling off the back of the magnetic sheet, sticking the cardstock to it, and, once again, trimming around the magnet.

Image shows the same 4x6 inch magnetic sheet but the items around it has moved
I started out by removing the backing from the sticker and sticking it to the cardstock remnant.
The sticker is now stuck to a circular piece of paper with the excess pieces around.
I then trimmed the excess paper off making sure not to go too close to the sticker itself.
Image shows the magnetic sheet with the paper backing half off and sticking up. Underneath it is the circular cardstock and sticker.
I then peeled the backing off of the magnetic sheet and stuck the cardstock to it.
Image shows the final magnet laid out beside the rest of the magnetic sheet, paper, sticker backing, and scissors.
With the three items stuck together all that was left to do was cut it out!

I love that the white cardstock allowed me to leave space around the sticker so it was easier to trim out. That said, I also didn’t like the little bits of paper fiber that pulled away from the edge so I could see using sharper scissors next time and/or using sandpaper or something to trim the little fibers away.

Anyway I absolutely adore my current pinboard and am debating whether I should move my sewing stuff elsewhere so I have more room to decorate. They all look amazing!

Image shows the upper right corner of my reMarkable with the pinboard showing behind. You can see all the magnets along with some ELFA accessories to hold my scissors and ponytail ties.
I absolutely adore my magnetic pinboard now with the custom, to me, magnets attached. It’s gone from something that simply holds my sewing supplies to an integral part of my desk that I enjoy looking at. I’ve already moved the sewing stuff to the far right side and am debating whether I should move it completely off so I have more room to work.

Have you ever turned a sticker into a magnet? Or turned anything into a magnet? If so how did it go and what did you use? I’d love it if you wanted to share what you did in the comments below. I hope your week is going great!


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