Yes. Someday. But today is not that day!
I had so much fun with my cement diamond push pins, my modern bud vases made from a shot-glass mold, and even my vase-disaster-turned-cute-planter, that I just had to do one more similar project. DIY is supposed to be about joy, right?
That’s what joy looks like.
I picked up a pacman ice cube tray (affiliate link – read our policies) but wasn’t sure what I would use it for until I came across packs of strong magnets at the craft store. Pacman magnets! Super fun, because you can arrange them so that they’re chasing each other all around.
This project was pretty special, because I tricked graciously invited Brad to help, so it was something that we did together.
To fill the molds, we mixed and spooned the cement following the same steps as my past projects (check out this post for more details).
As always, it looks totally gross, but that’s part of the fun.
We waited for them to harden a bit and then pushed the magnets into place. I didn’t want to do it too soon, for fear that the magnets would sink down into the mixture.
Once they were fully hard, we popped them out of the molds and let them dry completely in the basement. With all the nooks and crannies in this mold, they didn’t come out perfectly, but they are definitely recognizable.
We painted them with basic craft paints in their iconic colors. (Except that my cheap self thought she could just mix her own orange from yellow and red. Apparently I need to go back to elementary school because I just couldn’t get the tone quite right. It totally would have been worth the $1.49 for the real thing.)
We wanted to paint just the tops, so the natural cement would show on the sides. We decided not to tape them off and to free hand it, which required very slow and delicate painting.
We dabbed just a bit on and carefully dragged it to the edge, careful to only stroke “outward” with the brush.
It took a little while, but the edges turned out pretty crisp!
For good, solid colors (to match the graphic nature of the game) we had to do multiple coats on each, letting them dry for a few minutes in between. Some colors, like the teal and yellow, only took two, but the pink took like five! We also filled in the eyes with two coats of white.
To get a clean dot for the pupil, I cut a cheap brush down to nearly nothing, essentially making it into a tiny round stamp.
It was very easy to use – I just dabbed it into the paint, patted off the excess, stamped it down, and then finished off with a slight circular motion to get a clean, round shape.
After they dried completely, we finished them off with a coat of polycrylic in high gloss. I wanted to seal the craft paint so the magnets would stand up to frequent use, and I like just the look of polycrylic over cement.
Within an hour, they were ready to use!
I love how funny they are, with the little ghost eyes staring about.
The edges certainly didn’t come out perfectly – I still have a lot to learn about cement! – but they are bright and happy nonetheless. And I love the contrast between the saturated colors and the dark, slightly textured cement.
In arranging these photos, I learned a lot about the ghosts from Brad. Did you know that pinky (the pink one, obviously) is the smartest? Blinky (the red one) is next smartest.
All of this is news to me.
Here, they are arranged in order of intelligence.
The orange one is called either Sue or Clyde. I think its pretty sad that she/he doesn’t get to be part of the same rhyming scheme as all the others. I guess they’re the villains so I shouldn’t feel too bad for them, but we did grow pretty close during the long painting process.
I love having these colorful little creatures on our fridge door! And it’s even better because we got to make them together. <3
(Sharing at Link Party Palooza, Remodelaholic, Two Uses Tuesday, Totally Terrific Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, One Project at a Time, Think and Make Thursday, Your Turn to Shine Link Party, Weekend Retreat Link Party, Remodelaholics Anonymous, Thrifty Decor Chick’s Before and Afters, Create It Thursday, Pin Junkie Pin Party, Link Party Palooza, Idea Box, and Inspiration Monday)
having fun together…always worth it
For sure!
So cute! I have some LEGO minifigure molds I should try this on. It would be fun to paint different outfits on all of them.
That would be fun! The painting was definitely the best part 🙂
love these!
Thanks, Damjana!
These are great! (PS: I was just introduced to your site, and am LOVING it)
Thanks, Kat! Glad you found us. BTW, I love your Lord of the Rings inspired rug – and Sage would go absolutely crazy for it 🙂
How adorable…I love these! What a creative idea! Visiting from Your Turn To Shine 🙂
Thanks, Lisa! We had a lot of fun with them.
these are so adorable! love this idea!
stop by and chat 🙂 http://storybookapothecary.com/
Thank you, Tianna! They’re fun to move around on the fridge 🙂
I’m dropping by from the Play Party Pin link party. This magnets are such a hoot! I absolutely love them! I want to have a whole flock on my fridge!
I have a link party that I am trying to grow. I invite you to share this idea (and a couple of other ones) at my Grandma Ideas Sharing Time link party at http://grandmaideas.com. My readers would love this idea as much as I do!
My link party goes from Wednesday through Friday night at midnight Mountain Daylight Time. I hope that you will be able to make it.
All the best,
Nina
Thanks, Nina! They’re so fun to move around – I love them. Thanks for the tip on the new link party! I’m afraid I missed it this week, but I’ll stop by another time 🙂
What a cute idea!! I keep running across fun projects using concrete…it makes me a little nervous for some reason. But you make it look so easy!! I have a son who would love to help out with a project like this for sure!! Thanks for the idea 🙂
Thanks, Crystal! It made me nervous, too, but it turns out it was super low stakes. It really helps that the stuff is so cheap (I got my container of it for something like $8, and it was the expensive kind) so if you mess up a batch you’re really not “out” very much. Also, it helped that I got the quick-drying kind (which is why it was more expensive than the stuff you buy in huge bags) so I could see the outcome quickly and re-do if needed.
These look super cute! 😀
Thank you! I’m happy with them 🙂
These are fab! My lads explained to me a while ago that the ghosts all have names – who knew?
I find pacman WAY to stressful to actually play but I love the cute yet iconic-ness of them. I’ve pinned to my Cool but everso slightly geeky board, I hope you are not offended!
Thanks, Julie! These are totally, unabashedly geeky – so no offense could be taken! I’m totally with you on the stressful-ness of the game, but I love the graphic, colorful look.
These are pretty cuuutee! Love the colors 🙂
I hope you will share your tutorial with Idea Box:
http://milaslittlethings.com/2015/10/idea-box-thursday-link-party-30.html
xx
Mila
Thanks, Mila! And thanks for recommending your link party. I shared, and I’ll look forward to stopping by at future parties!
Thank you, Naomi! 🙂
Your post has been featured :
http://milaslittlethings.com/2015/10/idea-box-thursday-link-party-31.html
xx
Mila
Thanks Mila – that’s super exciting!
These are super cute! I love the idea.