Who doesn't love a little classic horror stuck wherever magnetic things will stick? Scare up some supplies and make your own VHS tape horror magnets!
To make these mini magnets there was a lot of trial and error in the process. The first task is to find the art. This may seem difficult but there is actually a lot of them out there to find. Some helpful resources I found:
I picked out some that I liked for Halloween party favors. Once I had the raw VHS cover I would format it into a template for resizing and printing.
I resized them to fit the magnets I choose and the size I wanted. The ones I made are about 1” by 2” roughly. Some are smaller and some a bigger, depending on the dimensions of the art I found. (You can find PDF templates that are ready to print of the ones I made at the bottom of this post!)
I had mine printed at Staples, on “Executive White” paper that is a smooth and thicker 32Lb. paper. They suggest this type of paper for brochures. Cardstock works too if you’re printing them yourself. As long as the paper is a bit more sturdy than plain printer paper. Once I had the printed pages I separated them, ready to cut them down for folding.
I used an X-acto knife on a cutting board to cut out my covers because it’s faster and a little easier for me.
Now they are ready to be folded. I used a dull and flat kitchen knife to crease the folds. It would be good to also use a straight metal ruler or something like that but I only had a knife. Make sure to be gentle when creasing so that the ink doesn’t crack and you end up with lines. (I will be fixing white crease lines later.)
Make sure to be gentle when creasing so that the ink doesn’t crack and you end up with lines.
Time to glue! This can be tedious and precision is important. I used UHU all-purpose glue as I’ve used it for papercraft previously and I found it glues paper very well.
The process I used is pretty simple to avoid mess. I put some glue on a plastic cup bottom and used a toothpick to apply just the right amount and then held it in place until it was pretty stuck.
Now they are glued and already look great!
This next part was what took me time to figure out. It’s probably not perfect and there might be a better method but this is what I came up with. First, I took craft foam and cut panels that would layer inside of the VHS covers. Make them a tiny bit shorter than the cover so there is space at the bottom. This foam is what the magnets will stick to. I chose foam because it’s easy to cut and trim and had the desired texture I wanted.
Make sure you test out the insert for size into the cover before you commit to gluing or sticking. I took sticky magnets and stuck some on two of the panels. You can also glue the magnets if you don’t have ones that come with adhesive stickers.
Then I glued the panels together to form the insert that would be the filling. The ‘tape’. Again, test it before you glue.
(Some had an extra panel inside because the case was thicker. In that case, you glue all three pieces together.)
The least messy way I found to glue in the filling was to put the glue into the case itself and slide the insert filling in.
Now they are filled but should have a small space at the bottom for the next step.
To finish them off, I decided to use black craft foam (or thick black paper when needed) to make the bottom. I cut a little rectangle that would fit inside and glued it in. This is primarily superficial because everything else is already held in very firmly with glue.
Now, some of the creases I made earlier resulted in white crease lines. I decided to leave some of them because I think it makes it look like an old VHS cover but if you don’t like the white then you can use am ink or paint pen to carefully cover the lines.
Once you’re happy, then they’re done! Now you have your very own horror VHS magnets!
Ready-Made Templates:
VHS Covers 1:
Re-Animator
The Company of Wolves
Chopping Mall
The Exorcist
The Shining
The Silence of the Lambs
Blood Diner
Brain Damage
VHS Covers 2:
They Live
Evil Dead
From Beyond
Creepshow
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Slumber Party Massacre 2
Jason Lives
Return of the Living Dead
VHS Covers 3:
The Thing 1982 (Box Version 1)
The Thing 1982 (Box Version 2)
The Blob
The Howling
Sleepaway Camp
Slumber Party Massacre
Halloween
Alien
VHS Covers 4:
Nightmare on Elm Street
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Prince of Darkness
Motel Hell
To Download from Google Drive:
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