Leaving messages on the fridge is a fun and traditional way to communicate with your family or roommates. Creating your own refrigerator magnets is also an easy and fun way to recycle unwanted items such as old electronics. Instead of buying alphabet magnets you can upgrade your magnetized message board with this DIY tutorial for upcycled keyboard magnets:

Supplies:

Directions:

  1. First, find an old keyboard. If you don’t have one lying around, they are easy to find at thrift stores and yard sales.
  2. Next, dismantle the keyboard by popping out the keys. You can use as many letters, numbers and symbols as you want just try to keep each little square intact.
  3. The keys on older keyboards are like little hollow cubes with an extra piece of plastic in the center to hold them in place. You should use the pliers or a small saw to remove the excess plastic piece sticking out of the back of the small cubes.
  4. After removing the excess plastic, fill the keys with clay. The clay will harden and provide a flat surface for the magnets to stick to. You might need to sand down the clay after it hardens so you have even surface for the magnets.
  5. Once the clay is dry, use strong glue to attach the magnets to the back of the keys. You can use almost any shape of magnet as long as they are thin and strong enough to hold the keys in place on your fridge.
Finally, you have a whole keyboard set of letters and numbers for your refrigerator! You can leave notes and messages for your friends and family using the magnetized keys. The upcycled keyboard will give your fridge magnets a modern, digital look. You can these unique letter magnets at work or at home. Can you think of any other uses for this cool magnet tutorial?