Fridge magnets are very handy and as they're going to be on display, you want them to be fun and decorative.

They're also really easy and cheap to make, and supplies aren't hard to come by as they're bought easily online or from craft stores, and you may have some of this stuff kicking around anyway, waiting to be put to good use.

These starry magnets will look good on anyone's fridge or noticeboard. If you want a bit of extra fun with the theme, why not paint a magnetic noticeboard black (or even use chalk board paint), throw in a few planet magnets, and have a galaxy as your noticeboard?

Step 1: What You Need

Glass/acrylic tiles or cabochons
Stars or galaxy paper
Mod podge (or equivalent)
Scissors (smaller craft scissors are best)
Magnets
Superglue
Brush for gluing

Obviously you can use whatever patterned paper you want for your magnets. Not everyone wants a galaxy on their fridge, black holes can be a major problem with sucking up your food. Anything from scrap paper to comics to magazines will work. I personally like origami paper as it's nice quality and comes with all sorts of amazing patterns.

Step 2: Gluing

Rather than cutting out the pieces you want and gluing them on the tiles, it's actually a lot less messy and fiddly to glue the tiles onto the paper, then snip off the edges around the tile once the glue has dried. You can do this even with just one tile and cut out a small square. The main thing is, don't try cutting perfectly and then gluing, because it'll be annoying.

Brush a layer of modpodge onto the area(s) you want for your background. Place your tiles (I used domed cabochons, but flat circle or square tiles also work great) in place, then give them a good wiggle around to spread the glue evenly and get the air bubbles out.

Once the mod podge has dried on the patterned side, it's safe to carefully flip them over to let the other side dry a little more easily if it needs to. Once it looks dry, brush a layer of mod podge over the paper on the back of the tiles to make it more durable, and leave it to dry for an hour.

Step 3: Cutting

If you've done it one one sheet like I did, cut the tiles into individual squares, then using the edge of the tile as a guide to press the scissors against, cut away the excess paper until you have a neat edge. Trim any bits that need it.

Step 4: Magnetising

Put a dob of super glue on the middle of the back of your tile, and then carefully fix a magnet on the back (or the other way around if that's easier for you). Give it a little wiggle, to spread the glue evenly and to position it properly, then leave it to dry for however long the glue instructions say. I like to leave it an hour, just to be sure.

I prefer to use higher strength neodymium magnets because the weaker ones on the average fridge magnets get knocked off easily, and our fridge is by the back door where things can easily get blown off if they're not secure. They're available from many sellers on Ebay and Amazon, and aren't expensive. Due to their strength, they like to attach to anything metal and can go flying. They also usually come in a stack stuck together, so it may take some gentle force to get one off.

Finally, stick 'em on your fridge and put them to good use!