DIY Magnetic Organizers

I do a lot of artwork and writing with the clients that I work with, and it’s easy to lose track of my supplies if I am not highly organized. I work in a small office, so every inch of space is valuable. One area of my office that is under utilized is my file cabinet — the exterior of my file cabinet to be exact. I have been saving metal containers for a while now, hoping to turn them into something useful or fun, and I finally found a good use for them!  I turned them into magnetic organizers for my office.  It turns out that you can transform almost any metal container into a storage container or organizer that attaches to a file cabinet or other metal structure (such as a refrigerator) .  Any of these metal containers can be repurposed for this project:

• Metal bandage boxes (novelty bandage boxes are extra fun)
• Vintage metal spice containers
• The lids of bandage and other small metal boxes
• Small tins used for baked goods
• Tea tins
• Mint and candy tins
• Plain undecorated tins bought from the craft store

  

The containers can be used for various organization and storage depending on the size and shape.  Altoid tins can hold business cards; upright containers can hold markers, pens and other utensils.  Lids can be repurposed to hold tacks or paper clips. As my office is small, I have limited desk space. I love the opportunity to move some desk top items over to the magnetic organizers–this will clear up more room on my desk and make it less cluttered.

Materials needed to make your own Magnetic Organizers:

• Small metal containers and tins
• Extra strength magnets (you can buy these in the hardware store or a craft store)– choose smaller sized magnets for small containers and larger sized for larger containers.
• Industrial strength glue such as Superglue or E600 glue

Directions for making Magnetic Organizers:

1. Plan ahead for how many magnets you will need for each container.  Larger containers (such as a tea tin) will take at least 2 of the larger magnets. You might need to use more magnets if you are going to store something heavy in it, such as scissors.
2. If you are using metal bandage tins, remove the lids.  The lids are attached via small slats, so it is easy to pull the lids off.  Flatten the slats back down after removing the lid.
3. Last, apply a dab of your glue to the magnet and adhere the magnet to the container.
4. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly before using.

Get creative with your containers — and if you have magnets left over, make some decorative magnets! I used my leftover magnets by turning some bottle caps and a bandage lid into fun magnets that I will use for reminders and notes.