Did you know that today is National Video Games Day? It is unclear who is responsible for creating the unofficial holiday but a quick Google search will confirm its existence. Gamers of the world may even already be celebrating it by relaxing and playing their favorite game. Video games have become a popular part of our culture, with their popularity really blowing up in the 1980’s after the release of Nintendo’s Entertainment System. The industry has come a long way since then with more advanced graphics and storylines, but for today, we are featuring some magnet DIYs inspired by the classic games many may remember from their childhood.

Tetris Magnets

Supplies

  • Polymer Clay (various colors)
  • Rolling pin
  • Wax paper
  • Flat surface
  • Tetris block print outs
  • X-acto knife
  • Neodymium magnets
  • Glue

Steps

  1. First take your packs of clay and knead each until it is easy to manipulate. Then lay the clay flat and smooth it out by placing it on some non-stick wax paper, rolling it with the rolling pin.
  2. Do this for all the colors that you plan to use. Try to match up the clay colors with the classic tetris colors. Once all your pieces are flat, take your tetris block print outs and cut them out with the X-acto.
  3. You’ll use the block cut outs as stencils once they are cut. You can put a foam board backing on them to make them sturdier.
  4. Place your block stencils on the corresponding flat piece of clay and cut around the block edges with the X-acto until it matches the stencil.
  5. Do this for all the clay colors and reform and flatten the clay until you’ve used all of it to create your pieces. You can press indents on the tops of the pieces to create the block-like appearance.
  6. Now that you have your pieces, preheat an oven to 275°. Put the clay tetris blocks on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. *Baking times may vary depending on what type of polymer clay is used. Most have baking instructions to help gauge time and temperature.
  7. Let cool for 30 minutes to one hour.
  8. Once cool, flip pieces so that the back is up and glue your disc neodymium magnets to the back. Press on them for a few seconds to make sure that they adhere and let dry.
Once the pieces are dry, you can put them up on your fridge and play a good old-fashioned game of tetris. If you like this tetris DIY magnet project, here are a few other game-inspired magnets that you should check out: Are you celebrating National Video Games Day? Or do you just simply love games and crafty projects? If you answered yes to either and are creating some exciting DIY and magnet projects, then we’d love to see them! Feel free to share how you are using magnets in the comments below. Photo by Aldo Gonzalez