Hi Everyone! The other week, our editor, Christy Viszoki, was telling me that during her last trip to Walt Disney World, she saw guests who decorated their MagicBands themselves, and I remember telling her that I was so excited by of all the cute CoverBands I found around the Walt Disney World Resort (my favorite one being the Enchanted Tiki Birds design), that I didn’t even think about making my own decorative accessories for my MagicBands.
For those of you not familiar with MagicBands, they are rubberized bands (bracelets) containing all of your Walt Disney World Resort vacation details booked using MyDisneyExperience and MyMagic+. This includes your room, dining, tickets/Annual Pass, FastPASSes (in testing), Disney’s Magical Express, and other experiences you’ve planned during your stay. Its hallmark feature is its embedded RFID technology, and in “Disney Speak”, the MagicBand is the “NextGen” of the Key To The World Card.
Once you have your MagicBand and are at Walt Disney World, you will discover that there are several types of MagicBand accessories available to decorate it, with more on the way later this year. So far, you can get Disney and Disney Parks-branded CoverBands, MagicBandits and MagicSliders. We have also seen some Resorts give away special collectible MagicSliders. While these super cute items are “must haves,” they can also be costly to collect.
So, guests have started to decorate their own MagicBands. They are painting designs with nail polish, paint pens, glitter, and even Wite-out®. I have heard of guests decorating with Duct Tape and Washi Tape. I can even imagine some of you Rainbow Loom designers out there taking your leftover rubber bands in Disney character colors and using them as sliders.
Now, I’m going to walk you through a few ideas so you can decorate your own. Grab your MagicBand(s), a bunch of your favorite supplies and let’s get started, together!
Going right to left in my photos: I made one into a Glittery Bangle. I applied a thick coat of matte Mod Podge with a mini foam paint brush. I then took some Martha Stewart Glitter in Tourmaline and shook it all over my MagicBand. I picked a very fine grain glitter in case some shook off, and there would not be little patches missing. If you work with glitter, it is definitely going to find its way on you (and your immediate area), but that’s part of the fun of it. If you prefer, you can carefully dab a bit more Mod Podge over the glitter to try to seal it.
I have to admit, I really like the look of the Sparkle Mickey MagicBand MagicBandits, so I grabbed some of my left over rhinestone and epoxy stickers and arranged these next two designs. On my pink MagicBand, I used EK Success® Disney Dimensional Stickers: Mickey Heads (#DMHGS) and some spare pink rhinestones I’ve collected over the years. On my gray MagicBand, I used EK Success® Disney Adhesive Epoxy Tiles: Red/Black Mickey Icon (#DEPM001). There is a wide variety of other Disney stickers by EK Success® that are perfect to use on your MagicBand, too.
And finally, we have a two-shot of my DIY CoverBand. For this you’ll need: your MagicBand; a scrap of fabric (approx. 3 in. x 10 ½ in.); and good fabric glue.
I opted to use a non-Disney pattern for this project. I thought about running a simple stitch the length of the material or using an iron-on fabric adhesive. I played with my fabric strip for a while before I decided to glue the fabric directly around the MagicBand.
You will see that the Band does not lay flat, so starting in the middle is the surest way to a snug fit. Wrap the fabric round the middle of the Band and glue about an inch of it in place. Take a look at the holes where you will fasten your band around your wrist. Carefully wrap the fabric around each side and glue these portions in place until you get to your hole. On the end where you fasten the Band, tuck the edge over, under the fastener, about a ½ inch and glue in place. On the end with the holes, first tuck the edge over, under the fastener, about a ½ inch and glue in place. Then continue to glue the fabric around this part of the Band, but not as tightly, so you can scrunch it down and then the opposite end can slide through it to fasten around the wrist. The thickness of your fabric will accommodate this.
If you use a flexible fabric glue, you might be able to slip your new cover off, But since I love the look of the CoverBands, I usually don’t remove mine.
How easy, right? I really enjoyed creating this DIY MagicBand decor. I’ll stop back here with more ideas on what to do with your MagicBands in coming months.
In the meantime, enjoy your day and design away!
(Photos and Photo Edits are by Fran Cassano.)
When you only have a few moments a week to craft or don’t even know where to begin, Fran Cassano invites you to capture your memories through Practically Perfect Disney Crafting… Break out those tools that have been gathering dust. And let’s figure out how, together!
