Movie nerd gift idea: magnets!

Movie-themed refrigerator magnets are obviously not a new idea. One need go no further than your local gift or novelty store to find magnets depicting everything from The Wizard of Oz to Scarface. But have you ever seen a The Young Girls of Rochefort magnet? The 1967 Jacques Demy musical? No, no you have not. But one exists on the fridge of my apartment. It was a handmade gift from me to my boyfriend because I am awesome. Joining it were magnets of Maude and the Dude bowling from The Big Lebowski and the Tenenbaums of The Royal Tenenbaums. If you have steady hands, a printer, some patience and a few bucks, you can surprise and delight the movie fan in your life with a practical but fun personalized gift.

Just purchase some adhesive magnet sheets (I used these), print out some images, stick them on and cut them out. There are two ways to approach your hunt for pictures. One is to use screencaps or images of movie posters, which is good if your skill with scissors starts and ends at "basic rectangle." What I did, though, which I think looks cooler, is found full-body images of movie characters and cut out around them. I will warn you that this can be very time-consuming, and probably requires some tiny scissors (i.e. nail scissors or the little scissors that come in sewing kits). It's also suprisingly difficult to find pictures where the full body can be seen, with not so much as a finger out of frame (because then it just looks weird), even for famous movies. But I found at least three that worked great, so I'm sure there are plenty of options for your recipient's faves. There are also magnet sheets that you can print on directly, so that saves you a step.

So whip some of these up for your favorite people, then come back and share your creations!