Personalized Calendar Reminder Magnets with Iron-on-Ink

Hi! Today’s art project on the blog: Personalized Calendar Reminder Magnets with Iron-on-Ink. I’m Chelsea Rose, I’m a Mother of two (and a dog), a military spouse and ex-art teacher turned baker. My son is almost 5 and ready to learn about our weekly and monthly schedule and routines, so turning these magnets into special reminder tiles seemed perfect! By using the Artesprix markers and a watercolor technique you can get a huge range of colors perfect for this personalized calendar reminder magnets project.

What is Iron-on-Ink?

Iron-on-Ink or sublimation ink is a medium that fuses to polyester or poly-coated blanks (also known as substrates) when you add heat and pressure. Artesprix has markers, stamp pads, stamp pad refill bottles, and acrylic paint. All of these craft mediums with Iron-on-Ink are designed to work wonderfully so you can create professional sublimation projects too that will last a lifetime. 

Materials:

Artesprix Magnets - 4 count

Artesprix Marker Set

Mixed Media Paper or Copy Paper

Protective Paper

Heat Resistant Tape

Lint Roller

Pencil

Paint Brush

Paint Palette

Optional but suggested: Calendar and Dry Erase Markers

Heat Source: Home Iron or Heat Press

Step-by-Step Tutorial:
Step 1: Outline the magnet shape with pencil to create your templates. Pencil will not affect your final design. To make sure you get full coverage with your design, I recommend designing outside of the traced space.

Step 2: Decide what designs and things you want to include on your magnets. I chose mainly topics that matter to my son when learning about his schedule. Sports, story time at the library, birthdays, and holidays. If I make more magnets I will also make some fun subtle backgrounds where I can leave the topic wide open and write on with a fine tipped dry-erase marker.

Step 3: Using the Artesprix markers, water, and a paintbrush to make a subtle pastel effect, I was able to create designs on each of the four magnets. Some of the designs leave off key details so I can add them with dry erase markers. For example, no candles on the birthday cake, multiple sports so we can circle which one is on the schedule. Remember to mirror any letters or text. For the multiple holiday magnet, I left space in the middle to draw an arrow or write out which holiday gets to be celebrated. 

Pro Tip: If doing a “clockwise” holiday magnet, the symbols need to be drawn counterclockwise to take into account mirroring when fusing the Iron-on-Ink to the blank.

Step 4: When dry, set your heat press to 400℉ and make sure your blanks are clear of oils, dirt. Always double check the recommended press temperatures and times go to Artesprix’s directions site. This blank calls for a transfer time of 75 seconds. 

Step 5: Using heat tape, tape the white side of the blank to the colorful design. You can tape more than one design down at a time as long as there is enough room under your heat platen since they are all the same thickness and relatively small. If you are using a home iron you will want to do one at a time. 

Step 6:  Sandwich the blank and the secured blank between 2 pieces of Artesprix protective paper. This will protect your work surfaces from "blow out" ink. This is a very important step!

Step 7: Press the project at 400°F for 75 seconds.

Step 8: After 75 seconds have elapsed it’s time for the "peek test"! Be careful since it is metal and very hot! Try to peek without removing the tape, that way if the project needs more time, your design is still lined up which can prevent ghosting. 

Step 9: After you have confirmed your transfer was successful, remove the paper from the magnet quickly and carefully. 

Step 10: Once your shiny new tiles are cooled, remove the backing from the adhesive magnets that came in the packaging. Press on the silver backside and viola!

Step 11, optional: Use dry erase markers (especially fine tipped would be best) to add details to change with the needs of your family!

I’m so happy with how versatile these magnets can be! The joy of Artesprix sublimation to completely customize the design to fit my family is my favorite part. The fact that you can go over them with dry-erase marker to add times, or whose birthday is just the perfect bonus for these personalized calendar reminder magnets with Iron-on-Ink.Another way to decorate these magnets that is perfect for bee lovers is here. 

Look for other tips and tricks on the Facebook group! If you want to see what I’m up to as a Navy spouse in Japan - come follow along over on instagram (I put lots of fun foods that we try in my stories).

Thanks for reading and hope you get inspired to create! 

Chelsea Rose 

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