How to remind myself to drink more water – DIY water tally magnets

I don’t drink nearly enough water, do you? We’re generally advised to drink at least two litres of water everyday, but I know that I’m coming up short. At the beginning of the summer I made a real effort to get my water intake up, managing three litres some days and I felt SO much better. I had more energy, my skin looked better, my digestion improved, but I’ve let those good habits slip again. Some days I realise in the evening (usually as I’m pouring myself a G&T!) that I’ve probably had nothing else to drink but coffee all day.

I have a water bottle that holds 500ml of water, so I needed to find a way to remind myself to drink at least four of these a day. I’ve been wanting to get crafty with some FIMO for ages (haven’t used it since I was a child), so I decided to use some to make some quick and easy magnets that would help me keep track of how much water I’ve drunk that day. This fits really well into The Everyday Spruce project I started last year with Sarah-Lou, which is all about those little fixes that make the everyday just a little bit better and easier.

It’s pretty simple. Each magnet represents 500ml of water. At the start of the day, all the magnets are on the left, each time I finish a 500ml bottle of water I move a magnet to the right, under the ‘drunk’ header. This gives me an instant visual tally of how much water I’ve managed to consume.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

One pack FIMO Soft in white
A rolling pin or similar (I used a thick marker pen)
Baking tray and baking parchment
Blue acrylic paint
Paint brush
Extra fine black Sharpie
Self-adhesive magnetic tape

These are super-easy to make. Here’s how…

1. Take a small chunk of FIMO and mould it into a ball about the size of a marble.
2. Roll the ball out until it’s around 2-4mm thick. Don’t worry if your circles aren’t perfect.
3. Pop the FIMO circles into the oven (I used FIMO Soft which goes in at 110 degrees for 30 minutes). When baked, leave to cool.
4. Make a very watery mix of blue acrylic paint and brush a dab onto each circle. Leave to dry.
5. Using a black fine point Sharpie, draw on a simple glass outline over the blue paint.
6. Stick a piece of magnetic tape to the back of each circle, and then pop them onto a magnetic surface such as a memo board or fridge door.

---

The Everyday Spruce

‘To spruce’ in its most basic definition means to make neat… by association, it can also be used to describe the acts of fixing up, organising and beautifying.

Through this collaborative project between Lapin Blu and I – The Everyday Spruce – we use the term to describe a more general idea of shaking things out and hitting refresh. We share easy and useful tips, projects and ideas that we hope will inspire and encourage you to revitalise things a little, both around your home and in your daily routines. This isn’t about making things perfect, but is about focusing on simple things that can help to make the everyday just a little bit easier, and, perhaps, more beautiful for you, too.

We’d love for you to join us and share your own everyday spruce ideas, tips or journeys by using the hashtag #theeverydayspruce.

: Blogs: Growing Spaces and lapinblu :
: Instagram: HeatherYoungUk and lapinblu :
: Twitter: HeatherYoungUk and lapinblu :
: Pinterest Board: The Everyday Spruce :