One of the most popular things I've ever put up on my blog is the
dishwasher dirty/clean indicator I made almost two years ago exactly. People email me all the time asking me to make one for them. Since they take hours to make out of felt, I always decline. There is no way to sew one that I could then sell for a reasonable price.
But recently I had an idea. Why not make one out of paper and make the dress the magnet? It's so smart that it makes me feel dumb that I didn't think of it in the last two years.
This is a prototype that I made for one of my handbag customers who was insistent on buying one for a male friend of hers.
I printed the girl on card stock (and some instructions on the back) and then laminated it with SelfSeal Repositionable laminating sheets. I figured it should be waterproof since wet soapy hands will be touching it.
For the magnet, I cut out the dress shape from an advertising magnet that was on my fridge. Then I printed a paisley pattern* on some sticker paper and stuck it to the magnet. Finally, I used a laminating sheet to waterproof the top of the magnet.
It cracks me up that this is one of my most popular designs since it was a playful thing I made for giggles. Wouldn't it be funny if some big chain contacted me to license** the design? OK, it wouldn't be funny ... it would be awesome. I would love to be a millionaire and tell people I made all my money in dirty/clean dishwasher magnets.
This prototype was a little labor intensive. But once I work out the details and streamline the process, I'd like to make some for my shop in with lots of different dress patterns. And maybe some naked girls. And maybe some guys. Is anyone still interested?
* The paisley design is one that got sent out free in my weekly Dover Sampler email. They usually have some great royalty-free stuff in there which I save on my computer. I'm so happy that I've finally used one!
** I own the copyright for my Dirty/Clean Dishwasher Magnet, so don't go making these and selling them. Especially you, China.