When I stumbled upon a package of 12 mini cats on Amazon, they were in my cart before you could say, “Who would order a bunch of miniature plastic cats?” I figured that when it came to mini cats, one should buy first and think later. It only took a minute of having these beauties in my possession to come up with a project. After years of keeping all my photos online only, I’ve been on a kick of printing out photos and sticking them to my refrigerator. I decided that these mini cats would make the perfect magnets. It’s my favorite kind of project — super simple and cat inspired. (Oh and if you’d like to do this with dogs, I’ve got you covered right here.) — Amy Azzarito
Photographs by Maxwell Tielman
See the full how-to after the jump . . .
Materials
- 12 assorted cats
- Tiny Mighties magnets
- Gorilla Glue
- spray paint
Instructions
1. Spray paint the cats any color of your choosing and let dry according to package instructions.
2. For those cats you’d like to be coming out of the refrigerator, simply use the scissors (and some muscle) to snip them in half.
3. Use the Gorilla Glue to adhere the Tiny Mighties magnets in place.
4. Stick your magnet on your fridge!
34 Comments
My mom would absolutely love this. Sharing with her!
L O V E.
Very cute and so simple. I will totally think of this when looking at any little plastic toys from now on when thinking of little presents for friends. Thinking of a dinosaur spinoff!
What a purrfect DIY. Can you please share which specific spray paint you used for the gold/copper cats?
“…they were in my cart before you could say ‘who would buy of bunch of miniature plastic cats?’ ” – Quote of the Day.
Also this project is adorable. I’m thinking Gold Miniature Plastic Farm Animals.
YanYan- it’s Montana Spraypaint’s Gold :)
Grace
Um, this is all sorts of amazing! I will have to do this on an upcoming rainy weekend. You can never have enough cat magnets!
Thanks Grace! Can’t wait to try this out myself!
Haha you are so funny, Amy! I love this. :)
Great idea but I would rather have horses than cats and I would spray them neon!
It’s the spray paint that makes them so incredible. I think. I LOVE them.
liz
ha- agreed. amy through that would look better and she was right. i originally liked them in their colorful plastic version, but this looks WAY cooler ;)
grace
so many things I love about this post! ‘figured that when it came to mini cats, one should buy first and think later’ think this may well be my moto for life
Fritha x
These are adorable and I can’t wait to make some! I love a cat DIY, as you can see here: http://thejunkdrunk.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/diy-cat-silhouette-pillow-cases/
Cat lovers unite! Love this project! Plastic cats, here I come!
I did a very similar DIY post last week with gold animals magnets: http://chicheetchouette.com/2013/02/20/fancy-zoo-magnets/
There must be something in the air!
those look great, catherine! we’ve oddly got a stash of plastic animals (leftover from max’s back to school shoot last year) and were dying to find a way to use them. your zoo animals give me hope that the plastic dinosaurs we have sitting in our prop box might look cute with a coat of gold paint, too ;)
grace
ADORE!!! Oh the possibilities! I think ZOO animals! Dinosaurs!!! Is it normal for me to be 42 and super giddy about this project!? :D Thank you! My daughters will worship me!
Adorable! And such a great idea! I would have to do dachshunds. Those would be perfect in this household.
What a great idea – they look so cute!
Moments after reading this, my boyfriend caught me spaced out and staring across the room. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Oh, just thinking of objects that I can paint gold. Like these amazing cat magnets, see?!” I don’t think he gets it.
that’s so cute!
I’m definitely going to try this! I’m such a crazy cat lady :)
Good Post!!
Enjoyed reading this, my nephew love playing with cat toy, I will definitely try out this.
Hahaha, Cindy! We get it! I think we go through more gold spray paint at the d*s office than almost anything else! xoAmy
Love these!! I did similar ones sing the butts of animals I had leftover from another project. So I have butt magnets. :)
Cute! I think you guys did another post once on the animal magnets because I remember pointing out this super awesome Etsy shop that does the heads and butts. http://www.originalanimalmagnet.etsy.com
I think this shop focuses more on using the two magnets as escort card holders, but your example is a fun twist to show the side of the animal.
How sweet! Also such funny timing. I just posted a similar tutorial on my blog using African mammals and dinosaurs!
These are my fave animal magnets: http://stephmantis.com/Animal-Butt-Magnets-farm-cat-Egyptian-gorilla
And really, anything Steph Mantis does it just the coolest.
Fantastic! They turned out so well! I love DYI projects like this.
I love this project! I am always finding plastic toys in the dollar bins around town.. perfect with a coat of spray paint. I love the DIY section!!! Loved meeting you at west elm market Amy.. you are just as nice in person as you seem on DS.
What a cute idea, they remind me of Monopoly pieces!
Hi Kristie! I was so nice meeting you too! And your little ones! :) I loved talking to you. It was a good group. :) xo Amy
I would probably keep then natural. They are so different and cute.
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