Graduation
Graduation photo magnets
Twelve years of work, one photo, one square that stays on every relative's fridge long after the open house.
Graduation announcements have a strange life cycle: weeks of planning, a proud trip through the mail, a moment on the counter — and then the pile. The photo card from every other senior in the class is in the same pile. A graduation photo magnet skips it. It arrives, it goes on the fridge, and your grad's face and class year stay in the kitchens of everyone who loves them, straight through the open house and long past it.
We make them from your photos: a 2"×2" square, dye-sublimation printed so the image sets into the surface, metal backed, and sealed. Add the name, the year, and the school colors in the design tool, preview it exactly, and the set ships from our Metro Detroit studio in about three business days — anywhere in the U.S.
Three Jobs
Announcement, favor, and gift — one magnet, three uses
The announcement that doesn't get filed. Send the magnet in place of — or tucked inside — the traditional photo card. Same photo, same pride, except this version is still announcing in August. For the relatives who save everything, it's the keepsake; for the ones who save nothing, it's the one thing that survives.
The open house favor table. A bowl of magnets by the guest book gives every household something better to take home than a third helping of pasta salad. Mix photos across the set — the senior portrait, the team photo, the friend group — and guests pick the one that's theirs. Teammates take the game-day shot; grandma takes the portrait; everyone's fridge tells a slightly different version of the same kid.
The gift for the people who got them there. Grandparents, the aunt who proofread the essays, the neighbor who drove carpool for a decade. A magnet is a small gift with the right message: you're part of this. Sets split easily across households — same photos, every kitchen in the family.
And for the grad themselves. The dorm mini-fridge is the first fridge they'll ever own. Send them off with the friend-group photo already on it.
The Design
Choosing the photo and the words
The senior portrait is the classic choice and it earns the spot — it's the photo the family paid for, and it's composed to flatter at any size. But don't sleep on the candids: the cap-toss, the hug outside the ceremony, the shot where the tassel's in their face and they're laughing. Formal photo for the announcement set, candid for the favor table is a combination that covers both moods.
Whatever you pick, crop close. A 2-inch square rewards a face that fills the frame; the full-length gown photo on the stadium field turns your graduate into a distant exclamation point. The design tool shows every crop live, so nothing surprises you.
For the words, short wins: first name, class year, school if it fits. "Maya · Class of 2027 · Troy High" says everything. School colors in the overlay make it land — we'll match them, and you approve the design in the preview before a single magnet is made. Skip the long quote; the yearbook already has it, and the fridge will never miss it.
The Calendar
Graduation season timing, honestly
Graduation compresses into about six weeks, and everyone orders everything at once. The comfortable path: order announcement magnets in April, so they mail two to four weeks before the ceremony. Order open house favors by mid-May — Metro Detroit open house season peaks in June, and our production calendar fills in the same wave. We take about three business days to make a set, plus shipping; the risk isn't our timeline, it's the two weeks the family photo debate takes.
One more calendar note: if the photos you want are coming from the school photographer, confirm when you'll receive the digital files. That handoff is the most common delay in the whole process, and it's the one nobody budgets for.
Wording
What to put on a graduation magnet (with examples)
The magnet is small and the accomplishment is big, so the text has one job: name and year, clean. A few shapes that work at 2 inches:
Maya Thompson · Class of 2027 · Troy High School
DJ graduates! · Athens High · 2027
Class of 2027 · Michigan State University
She did it · Dr. Reyes · 2027
Full name reads formal and suits the announcement set; first name reads warm and suits the favor table. The school can drop off entirely when everyone at the party already knows it — that frees space, and space is what makes a 2-inch design look intentional instead of crowded.
What to leave off: the graduation ceremony details (that's what the insert card is for), the GPA (grandma already knows), and inspirational quotes (the photo of a kid in a cap says "the future is bright" better than the words do).
Every Kind of Grad
Not just high school
High school seniors drive the season, but the orders that make us smile come from everywhere on the ladder. The kindergarten "graduate" in a paper cap, ordered by a parent who knows these years vanish. The college senior whose family watched four years of tuition turn into a diploma. The nursing school pinning, the master's degree earned at night over six years, the trade certification that starts a career, the GED that someone fought for at forty.
The format doesn't change: their face, their year, their accomplishment, on the fridge of everyone who watched them do it. If the ceremony had folding chairs and someone cried, it qualifies.
For adult graduates especially, the magnet solves a real gift problem: what do you give a 35-year-old who finished their MBA? Not a teddy bear in a cap. A photo of them at the ceremony, on their parents' fridge, says what the family actually feels.
Sets By Recipient
Who gets which magnet: a family planning map
The easiest way to size a graduation order is to walk the family tree with the photos in mind. Grandparents get the formal portrait — both sets, plus the great-aunt who will absolutely notice if she's left out. Parents keep the portrait and the candid, because they earned both. Siblings want the funny one. The friend group wants the group shot, one each, which they will compare on their respective dorm fridges in September.
Then come the honorary family: the coach who ran 6 am practices, the youth group leader, the piano teacher of eleven years, the best friend's parents whose basement hosted half of high school. A magnet handed over with a thank-you covers a debt that a card struggles to. Most families find the full map runs 20 to 40 magnets before the open house favors even start — which is why set pricing steps down as the count grows.
Practical note for split families and far-flung relatives: we ship anywhere in the U.S., and if the same set needs to land in three states, contact us and we'll split the shipment rather than making you place three orders.
The Photo Checklist
Five photos to gather before you design anything
Orders go fastest when the photos are ready before the design tool opens. The five worth pulling together: the senior portrait (from the school photographer — confirm when the digital files arrive, it's the most common delay), a cap-and-gown shot, one great candid from senior year, the friend-group photo, and a childhood photo if you want the tearjerker — kindergarten backpack next to the graduation gown is a two-magnet pairing that wrecks grandmothers in the best way.
You won't use all five on every magnet, but having them in one folder turns a week of family texting into a ten-minute design session. And every crop previews live before you pay, so the debate about which photo "works" settles itself on screen instead of in the group chat.
Open House Playbook
A few open-house lessons worth stealing
Michigan open house culture has rules everyone knows and nobody wrote down: the same six Saturdays in June, guests hitting three parties in an afternoon, and every kitchen table running the same pasta salad census. The favors that survive this gauntlet are the ones guests can grab in two seconds on the way out — which is exactly what a bowl of magnets by the card box is.
Put the magnets where the cards get dropped, not by the food — people's hands are full by the food. If your set mixes photos, fan them out so the choices show. And keep ten back before the party starts: the magnets left at hour three are never the ones you'd have chosen to keep, and future-you wants the good ones.
In Metro Detroit?
Make the magnets live at the open house
If the party is in Metro Detroit, there's a second option: our on-site magnet station at the open house itself. Guests take photos with the grad through the afternoon and walk away with magnets made on the spot — entertainment and favor in one, with unlimited magnets for every wave of guests. Shipped favors work everywhere; the live station is the version people talk about afterward. June Saturdays book first, so ask early.
The two options also stack: shipped announcement magnets in May, the live station at the June open house. Relatives get the portrait on their fridge before the party, then add the candid they made with the grad at the party — a before-and-after of the same milestone, told in two squares. However you run it, the magnets outlast the balloon arch by about a decade.
FAQ
Graduation magnet questions
When should I order graduation magnets?
April and early May are the sweet spot. Announcements typically go out two to four weeks before graduation, and open houses stack up through June — orders pile up in the same window, so early beats rushed. Production takes about three business days plus shipping.
How many should I order for an open house?
Count households you expect, not individual guests, and add about ten percent for extras. For a typical Metro Detroit open house that's often 40 to 80 magnets. Pricing starts at $5 each and steps down as the set grows.
Can each magnet use a different photo?
Yes. A common set mixes the senior portrait with a few candids — the game-day shot for teammates, the friend-group photo for classmates — under one shared class-year design.
What photo works best?
The senior portrait is the classic for announcements, and the cap-toss or candid works beautifully for favors. Whatever you choose, faces should fill the frame — a 2-inch magnet rewards close crops and punishes wide ones. The design tool previews every crop before you pay.
Can you match school colors?
Yes. The overlay — name, class year, school — can carry the school's colors, and you'll approve the design in the preview before anything is made.
Do you do college graduations and grad school?
Absolutely. High school leads the season, but college, grad school, nursing pinnings, and trade certifications all mark the same thing: someone finished something hard. The magnet doesn't care how advanced the degree is.
We're in Metro Detroit — can you make magnets AT the open house?
Yes. Our on-site magnet station comes to graduation parties across Metro Detroit, and guests make magnets with the grad live. See our events page or get a quote — June Saturdays book earliest.