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Make a DIY magnet felt board on the cheap! Yes, you can use dry erase markers on this too! Perfect for toddler and kid play spaces. Click through to get the tutorial!

Is there anything better than a great DIY project? Not in my book, especially when it comes out to be so incredibly cute AND useful in the end! We’ve been working recently on sprucing up our church nursery. Thankfully, we’ve got a growing population of little ones! We want to serve all of our church family well, even the tiniest ones, right? That’s why I whipped up this awesome DIY magnet felt board for our church nursery wall.

I looked for something like this to buy online. A magnet board of this size (about 3 x 2 feet) runs around $70-$90. Yikes! That doesn’t even include the felt area or storage baskets.

My board came to a whopping …….$15!

I had a few essential criteria for this DIY project:

  • The surface must be magnetic for toddler play and teacher-led storytime.
  • There must be a felt area for Sunday school lessons.
  • The surface must be compatible with dry-erase markers, too!
  • Storage is a must!
  • It’s just got to be cute and classy 🙂

I think the end product turned out awesome! All the little people ran to play with the magnets as soon as they arrived in the nursery room. DIY for the win!

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.)

 

Make a DIY magnet felt board on the cheap! Yes, you can use dry erase markers on this too! Perfect for toddler and kid play spaces. Click through to get the tutorial!

 

Here’s what you’ll do to make your own magnet felt board:

  1. Cut a piece of plywood 3 x 2 feet. (about $6) Shout out to my dad for help cutting the wood!
  2. Cut a sheet of galvanized metal sheeting slightly smaller, leaving a 1 inch margin of wood. Don’t use stainless steel sheeting. It’s not magnetic! (I got my metal from a local hardware store for around $3)
  3. Spread construction adhesive on the plywood sheet.
  4. Center the metal sheeting on the plywood. Flip it over on a table and clamp down to make sure there is even pressure throughout the whole center of the board.
  5. Let the adhesive dry for the specified amount of time. Looks good! You could leave it like this, but we decided to frame out the border to avoid any cuts or scrapes.
  6. I had my awesome brother-in-law help me miter four scrap pieces of wood at 45 degree angles. Overlap the metal by 1/4 inch. Wood glue underneath, then secure with a nail gun.
  7. I added decorative brads around the edges of the metal. Just tap in with a hammer. ($1.50 for a whole pack of upholstery brads!)
  8. Tape off the metal with painters tape. I painted my board white and distressed the edges with sandpaper a bit.
  9. I added two hooks for storage baskets. ($2) Then I cut a piece of felt ($2) to fit inside the frame and attached it at the top with more upholstery brads.
  10. I needed a way to roll up the felt, so I just twisted in two more hooks on the wood frame and attached felt strips on both ends of the big felt square. A slit in the felt strip allows it to hang on the hook and roll up nice and neat.
  11. You definitely want this to be secure on the wall. My handy husband pre-drilled holes through the metal and plywood in all four corners. Then we screwed the whole thing directly into the wall studs.

All done! I’m so excited about how cute and functional this board turned out. Throw some magnets in the baskets and you’re all set!


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