Handmade gifts were a norm in my family when I was growing up.  With ample time for crafting and little money for spending, it was the best way to give a thoughtful gift to a family member or friend.  Now that I am adult I enjoy sometimes being able to shop for gifts for family and loved ones.  However, I still very much enjoy making gifts for them as well!  Sometimes there is nothing better than being able to make that perfect gift.

My older brother has been a long time fan of the comic strip Dilbert.  So a couple years ago when I was sitting down to make gifts for all of my siblings, I had the idea to make Dilbert magnets for him from paper quilling.  It took some time and patience (as quilling usually does!) but I came up with these designs that I was very happy with, and he was too!

To make these magnets I wanted the shapes to be as solid as possible.  Yet I still had to be able to shape them.  Dilbert’s head was probably the most difficult part of this project.  I had to let the paper expand just enough so that I could shape it into a rectangle, but still have it mostly solid.  It just so happened that there is a tiny gap that looks like a crooked smile  haha!    Dilbert’s glasses and nose were solid circles and I pressed reeeeaaaaally hard to get them into the right shapes.  Same with Dogbert’s glasses, hands, and feet.    I was quite pleased with the way Dilbert’s tie came out.  I cut out the shape with red paper (I used 3/8″ wide quilling paper) and made it a couple layers thick.  Then I used strips of 1/8″ wide black quilling paper to glue on the strips.  I bent it the way I wanted it and then put on a couple layers of liquid sealer so that it would stay stiff.

I sealed these magnets with a glossy topcoat like diamond glaze so that they would be nice and sturdy.

For tips on sealing your quilled items, read these posts.

Here are some sealants that you can get on Amazon that work well with paper quilling!

 Click here to view  free paper quilling tutorials!

Click here to view paper quilling tips and tricks!

Click here to view a list of places to buy quilling supplies around the world!

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